FOUNDERS

Kyla Barkin

Kyla Barkin, Founding Director & Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, was raised in Tempe, AZ. She studied with “La Mariquilla” at the Academia de Ballet Flamenco in Granada, Spain then received her B.A. in Dance from UCLA. Ms. Barkin has toured internationally, is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Jean Irwin Award.

“Ms. Barkin's avid, physically expansive attack is exciting.” -Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times.

Barkin’s choreography has been widely shown including at The Staller Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow 80th Anniversary at Inside/Out, Jazz at Lincoln Center, West End Theater, Boston’s Dance Complex, Touhill PAC (St. Louis, MO), Bryant Park, and the 92nd St Y. Her work has also been presented internationally at venues in Berlin (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and more. Notable collaborations include dance films made with Juano Castillo, FALKOR Systems’ autonomous pet drone, Reggie Watts for Sally Taylor’s ConSenses, James Simons, Sirius String Quartet, and Nel Shelby on Differential Cohomology & its
 documentary, and an on-going artistic partnership with composer James Guastaferro.

Barkin has been working with Janis Brenner & Dancers since 1998 and has taught and set works, both of Brenner’s and her own, at institutions such as NCSA, The Juilliard School, The Joffrey School, Stony Brook University, the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn, and Tanzakademie Balance 1 in Berlin. She has danced with other major companies including Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and The Doug Elkins Dance Company. She has been on faculty at USDAN Center for Performing Arts and continues to teach classes, private lessons and workshops both in the United States and internationally. Ms. Barkin is also proud to serve on the board of the Foundation for a Just Society.

Photo by Sloan Timson

Aaron Selissen

Aaron Selissen, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, is originally from Green Bay, WI. He received his B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University. He has choreographed and directed more than 15 works for B/S P including several dance films for the short film series, Titles Project. His work has been presented domestically and abroad at venues including the Inside/Out Series at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Staller Center for the Arts, Main Stage at Stony Brook University, Bryant Park, the 92 St. Y, West End Theater, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Flea Theater, Gerald W. Lynch Theater, Arts on Site, Sam Houston State University and more. 

Aaron has taught classes/workshops and set choreographic works in public schools throughout New York City and the United States, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Institut Kesenian Jakarta in Indonesia, and Teatr Muzyczny Capitol in Wroclaw, Poland including creating new works for the Limón Professional Studies Program and Northern Plains Dance, to name a few. He can be found teaching at the Limón Institute in NYC, as well as giving private lessons.

Selissen’s performance career has taken him across the US and abroad. He worked with Dance Kaleidoscope and Ballet Internationale of Indianapolis. He has performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, among many others. He was a member of the Limón Dance Company from 2010 to 2016 and can currently be seen performing with Janis Brenner & Dancers (since 2007).