Gritty Cherries, Inc. is an international artist collective of dance, music, story, art and film. Our mission is to develop an outlet for creativity and collaboration that bridges communities through performing arts, artistic education, and global awareness.
HISTORY
Karen Niceley and Laila Sales co-founded Gritty Cherries in 2001 after performing together in Dance Theatre Workshop’s Fresh Tracks and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. They created Gritty Cherries as a stepping-stone to promote a network of choreographers, dancers and artists of all disciplines. Gritty Cherries has worked with emerging and established choreographers from De La Guarda, MOMIX, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Bill T. Jones Company and Ailey II. In addition to working with dancers, Gritty Cherries always includes artists of other disciplines – fashion, music, film, photography, painting and sculpture.
Gritty Cherries has spent the last 16 years developing a collaborative network of over 200 artists and 100 volunteers. Gritty Cherries has expanded its mission of collaboration to include partnering with other non-profit and charitable companies, thus broadening their reach beyond the arts. Gritty Cherries' 2004 event Leather and Feather not only entertained more than 400 guests with dance, fashion and music but also raised money for the MAC AIDS Fund.
In 2005, Gritty Cherries produced another multi-media (aerial dance, film, dance, music and fashion) event, SCUBA, which highlighted Rocking the Boat, an educational boat-building program for teens in the Bronx. With this partnership, Gritty Cherries launched its Production Workshop Program, teaching dance, visual art, music and collaborative production strategies to 30 teens from Rocking the Boat in 3 workshops. Each Gritty Cherries artist or participant is oriented to the Gritty Cherries philosophy and the desire to achieve a mutually collaborative creative process with individual talent and expertise. This permits a unique sense of commitment to the Gritty Cherries agenda -- one that values each individual artist working under the cohesive vision of Gritty Cherries.
Gritty Cherries, Inc. is an international artist collective of dance, music, story, art and film, rooted and immersed in a multidisciplinary arts objective, that evokes an innovative experience, creative in its production and fascinating in its audience interaction.
Since it’s founding, Gritty Cherries, INC. created a popular name and foundation for emerging artists. Many of those artists have companies now. Our events were fun, artistic, creative, audience interactive and very collaborative. We set a tone for taking dance to various environments and venues, transforming the venue into a virtual and physical experience.
Gritty Cherries, INC. is entering a challenging and exciting time. We aim to promote collaboration within the arts community and with non-artists through our involvement with other charitable programs, educational institutions and international organizations, expanding the appreciation of dance and multidisciplinary performance. We believe that this work has never been more important than it is today.
FOUNDERS
LAILA SALES, CEO
Email: lailasales@grittycherries.com
Laila Sales is a native of Harlem, New York. She began studying dance at the age of five at the Mary Bruce Tap Dance School. Ms. Sales furthered her training at Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey and most notably The Martha Graham School; where she performed with the company and Mikail Baryshnikov at the Metropolitan Opera House. In 1993, Ms. Sales graduated from LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. She continued her studies at SUNY Brockport where Ms. Sales received a BFA in dance. She then went on to complete her MFA in choreography and performance at the University of Michigan School of Music as a Rackham Fellow. Upon graduation Ms. Sales returned home to New York. Her work has been produced and commissioned by Lincoln Center Out- of- Doors and Dance Theater Workshop. Internationally, Ms. Sales has worked with performing artists in Pisa, Italy and Havana, Cuba. After several years of teaching at the Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts in Brooklyn, Ms. Sales currently holds a position as the Dance Director of the Lawrence Public School District. Furthermore, Ms. Sales holds a MA in psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Certificate in School Administration from LIU POST. Ms. Sales aspires to produce artistic work that is rooted in the experience of confronting and overcoming creative and political challenges
KAREN NICELEY, COO
Email: karenniceley@grittycherries.com
Karen Niceley is a graduate of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she received a BFA in Dance Education, along with the Faculty Recognition Award. Her training began at age four in Washington, D.C under the instruction of Ms. Doris Jones at the renowned Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. Karen has also studied at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Alvin Ailey Dance Center, the National Ballet, the Paul Taylor School, and the Rosella Hightower School de Danse in Cannes, France. While in Philadelphia, she performed with Koresh Dance Company, Group Motion, SCRAP, and JUNK. Since moving to New York City, Karen has worked with Kevin “Iega” Jeff, Louis Johnson, Roger C. Jeffrey of Subtle Changes, The Michael Mao Dance Company, Keith Lee’s Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, and Collage dance Collective of Memphis, TN. Among other venues, Karen has performed at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Riverside Church, and Dance Theatre Workshop’s Fresh Tracks. She has also performed with, Metropolitan Opera, Cirque Du Soleil and was a featured performer with the Broadway National Tour of The Color Purple. As a choreographer, Karen has participated in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the DanceNow/NYC Festival at Joyce SoHo, and several other choreography showcases in New York. She currently teaches dance, yoga and empowerment workshops for various community based organizations and schools in New York City as well as The Dance Theatre of Harlem. She is an instructor of Vinyasa Yoga and recently founded Niceworld Movement, where she facilitates classes in Ballet, Yoga, and Zumba.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
KEVIN
DIXON
Director of
Finance
Email: kevindixon@grittycherries.com
Kevin Dixon is an accomplished senior-level financial analyst with over 15 years of finance and accounting proficiencies and over 10 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Kevin has provided finance and accounting support to the organization’s financial operation and strategic goals. In addition, he has collaborated with senior leadership on financial analytics, reporting and best practices to gain insight on economic and market trends impacting the organization’s bottom-line.
Kevin has managed organizational budgets of $55M, along with executing organizational-wide annual budget process. Kevin Dixon has provided guidance and oversight to organization’s management such as the American Cancer Society and American Red Cross on financial analysis and reporting, budget planning and execution, business intelligence implementation, and accounting practices and procedures to accomplish the organization’s strategic and financial goals.
As the Co-Owner and Managing Director of Collaborative Financial Partners & Solutions, LLC, Kevin has proven success in assessing key components of an organization’s financial operation and implementing efficiencies to reduce cost and risks, while increasing productivity.
MANUEL
PASCUAL
Director of Strategy
Email: manuelpascual@grittycherries.com
Manuel E. Pascual currently serves as Director of Strategy on the Board of Gritty Cherries, Inc. where he spearheads the organizations’s strategic objectives and implementation to align with the overall goals/growth strategy. His work is at the center and crossroads of the other Board Members’ purview. This is inclusive and not limited to project management, timeline implementation, goal setting and execution, as well as general consulting/ideation.
Outside of the organization, Manuel is an outgoing client-focused and commercially driven senior manager with almost 15 years experience working in the Lifestyle, Luxury Concierge and Property Management space. He prides himself on his excellent interpersonal skills, experience in high-touch client relationships, and management of suppliers as well as a large office (both on-site and virtual staff matrix). Being responsible for a portfolio of over 250 properties as well as being multi-lingual in English and Spanish (native tongue) and conversational Italian and French (having studied in Paris and Florence for IB and BA degree respectively), his business acumen and experience spans across several areas of focus on a day-to-day basis.
Manuel is passionate about travel and is a regular patron of the arts. He has most recently inter-railed around Europe for vacation and enjoys ballet, modern dance, opera, and experimental theatre wherever he visits. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Coop that he is a shareholder of in New York City.