Directors
Kevin Thomas, Artistic Director, Collage dance Collective
Kevin Thomas began his dance training with Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec in Montreal, Canada, and has danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Cleveland Ballet and most recently the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) in New York City. He joined Harlem’s Dance Theatre in 1995 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1999. With DTH, Mr. Thomas' credits include leading roles in The Prodigal Son, Dialogues, The Four Temperaments, Othello, Adrian (Angel on Earth), A Song for Dead Warriors, Troy games, Equuis and Dougla. He has performed leading roles in, The Nutcracker, Tarantella, Agon, Who Cares, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Don Quixote, Consort Lessons, Concerto K622, and Aureole. Mr. Thomas has made numerous guest appearances with companies around the world, including, the Royal Ballet in London, Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York, Fleming Flindt and Peter Schaufuss in Denmark and Coleman Lemieux Compagnie in Toronto, Canada. He has also appeared on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera.
Mr. Thomas has recently served as the Artistic Coordinator for New Ballet Ensemble $ amp; School in Memphis, TN and has choreographed extensively for numerous programs and organizations including the Flint Institute of Music, Opera Memphis and the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN. Kevin serves on the Memphis Art Park Advisory Board and the Orpheum Theatre’s Community Advisory Board. In addition, Mr. Thomas currently serves on the dance faculty at the University of Memphis.
He can be contacted at Kevin@collagedance.org.
Marcellus D. Harper, Managing Director, Collage dance Collective
Marcellus Harper, born in Washington, DC, has an expansive background in project management and event production. He has worked as a Program Analyst for the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He was amongst the first seven employees of the TSA Taskforce mandated by Congress to create and develop the agency and federalize our nation’s transportation security infrastructures. Prior to his work with the TSA, Mr. Harper worked as a Project Coordinator for Marriott International's corporate marketing department, where he was directly responsible for the development and implementation of several industry events for the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Mr. Harper has done project coordination work for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Harvard University coordinating special projects to assist research and treatment work for HIV/AIDs patients in Africa. Mr. Harper was a Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) where he studied biology and theatre and was a double national medalist in the NAACP’s ACT-SO Program in biology and oratory. Marcellus serves on the board of directors for Gritty Cherries, Inc., a New York arts cartel, and has managed production for several Cherry events. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in non-profit administration and performing arts.
He can be contacted at Marcellus@collagedance.org.
Joy Doss, Director of Public Relations, Collage dance Collective
Memphis-born, Joy Doss has been in the communications business for more than 10 years. After finishing with a B.S. in marketing at the University of Tennessee, she migrated to New York to pursue a career in fashion and landed at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Upon graduating FIT, she spent a year styling catalog shoots then moved on to join the ranks of corporate America at Saatchi and Saatchi. While advertising proved to be a great training ground, there was still something missing from the equation. The x-factor turned out to be PR. As a true “people person”, she was able to take her razor sharp social and interpersonal skills, couple them with her fashion experience in styling and corporate experience in advertising and funnel them into a successful PR career. A PR maven was born!
Throughout her career, Joy has created high-voltage PR programs, specializing in the areas of fashion, lifestyle and nonprofit. She pushes herself to be a “soup-to-nuts” publicist; her strengths include developing tailor made strategies for clients, fashion show production, general event planning and management, development of marketing and communications tools (websites, publications, marketing brochures, bios), and media relations. She has worked with agencies and directly with fashion clients including: MUSE PR (Anne Bowen Couture, Momo Falana, Paula Hian, Legacy Gems), Celeste Miller PR (Pepe Jeans London, Request Jeans), Tse Cashmere, Robert Danes, Ashaka Givens and Lorraine West. Nonprofit clients include: Thurgood Marhsall Scholarship Fund, Dance Theater of Harlem and other local nonprofits. She has also worked with actress Napiera Groves (30 Rock, As The World Turns, One on One and All of Us, Broadway’s Spamalot). Also a strong event planner, Joy has organized fundraisers, dinners, fashion shows, screenings and launches for the clients listed above and others. She is the Executive Producer of The Style Salon, a highly successful fashion week showcase for emerging designers.
In September 2004 she developed East-West PR, a company featuring a strong network of publicists in major markets dedicated to servicing clients “wherever they are”. Joy’s work reflects her PR savvy with coveted coverage in a diverse group of publications and all of the major wire services to include: WWD, Lucky, InStyle, Footwear News, Marie Claire, Footwear Plus, Vibe, Essence and various others. She has outfitted Gossip Girl’s Nicole Fiscella, singer and actress Mya, country singer Shawn King, Eve, Tyra Banks, Geena Davis, Rachel Bilson, Queen Latifah, Raven Simone, BET and MTV personalities and various others. Some other clients include: Boost Mobile RockCorps, Parsons The New School of Design, Imagenation Cinema Foundation/Flowers & Hayward, b. michael couture/JLM PR, Jedda-Kahn, Rusk Haircare, Medgar Evers College, and Samanta Shoes.
She can be contacted at Joy@collagedance.org.
