Maxine Montilus is a native of Brooklyn, New York and a first-generation Haitian-American. Maxine has a B.F.A. in Modern Dance Performance from The University of the Arts, and an M.A. in Arts Management from City University London. She has also had the opportunity to study Afro Cuban dance and culture through the annual “Dog Aguas” program founded by Danys “La Mora” Perez from 2010-2012, which took her to Havana, Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba; and has studied Afro-Haitian dance with various master teachers, such as Adia Whitaker, Peniel Guerrier and Julio Jean.
Maxine is a 2014 EMERGENYC artist with New York University ’s Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics. As a dancer, Maxine has performed with Ase Dance Theatre Collective, Balasole Dance Company, KaNu Dance Theater and Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits. Maxine also performed with SpeakDance Collective in the Festival of Art and Folklore in Santiago de Cuba in April 2016, and was a featured artist in the annual New Traditions Showcase of Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE from 2015-2016.
As a choreographer, Maxine has presented work at the "Being Bushified!" culture and community series hosted by Urban Bush Women, The Pearl Showcase, "The Makings of You" (at Dance New Amsterdam) and "Epic Narratives"(at The Actors Fund Arts Center) with Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits, "Shadow of a Pearl" and "Malgre Tout" with KaNu Dance Theater at Jamaica Performing Arts Center, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, Harlem School for the Arts with Haiti Cultural Exchange for their annual Selebrasyon Festival, and the inaugural Rex Nettleford Arts Conference in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2014, she choreographed BallyBeg Production's third play and Equity-approved showcase, "The Taste Of It", and was a 2015 nominee for Outstanding Choreography/Movement in The New York Innovative Theater Awards for her work in the production.
