UC Davis Theatre and Dance MFA candidate Raissa Simpson and her company, PUSH Dance, are performing at Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis May 27 to 29. PUSH members will dance Simpson’s “Disequilibria” which she originally choreographed at UC Davis for a premiere in 2015. 

Raissa Simpson is Artistic Director of PUSH Dance Company and PUSHfest in San Francisco. After receiving her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase, Simpson had an extensive performance career in the San Francisco Bay Area dancing with Robert Moses’ Kin and Joanna Haigood’s Zaccho Dance Theatre, among others. Raissa is an awardee of the Magrit Mondavi Award, ATTAIN in association with Hewlett Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation and SF Foundation to name a few. Hailed by Dance Spirit Magazine as “Reflective Contemporary Choreography,” she has presented her work at Links Hall, Ferst Center, Joyce SoHo, Washington Ensemble Theater, Evolve Dance Festival in NY, Los Angeles Theater Center, Black Choreographers Festival, and Renberg Theater. 

St. Louis’ path-breaking dance festival, Spring to Dance, is now in its ninth year. The festival 30 professional dance companies from across the country for three unique, exhilarating nights over Memorial Day weekend. You name it — ballet, hip-hop, tango, classical, contemporary, modern and more — the festival offers something for everyone with a different program each night.

Raissa Simpson’s PUSH Dance Company builds vibrant contemporary dances to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges attributed to mixed heritage. The company has been praised as ”Edgy, sleek, and sexy, each moment generates fresh perspectives from intermingling diverse dancers in raw situations- aptly described as “emotional and kinetic changes.” (San Francisco Bay Guardian)