Naila Ansari Carbonell Catilo
Naila Ansari Carbonell Catilo (she/her), a Buffalo native, is an award-winning choreographer, director, and performer. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University at Buffalo and is a former principal dancer for the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble, named “Top 25 Dance Companies to Watch” by Dance Magazine. Naila has performed with the Lula Washington Dance Theatre and worked with renowned choreographers like Robert Battle and Camille A. Brown.
As an Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo State College, she merges artistry and scholarship, facilitating conversations on race and Black performance. Her choreography has been showcased at colleges, professional theatres, and commercial projects. Naila’s work "Mine Eyes Have Seen" was performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018. Her forthcoming book, The Movement of Joy, explores the performance of joy through oral and movement histories. She is also the Dance Director for Ujima Company, Inc.