SDCF Announces 2022-2023 Professional Development Program Cycle 1 Recipients

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2022-2023 Professional Development Program Cycle 1 opportunities. Previously called the SDCF Observership Program, SDCF's revitalized Professional Development Program provides opportunities for early career directors and choreographers to observe and/or support experienced directors and choreographers during the production process.

Applications for the Program's Cycle 2 are being accepted now through March 6, 2023. Please click here to see the available opportunities.

Recipients of the 2022-2023 SDCF Professional Development Program Cycle 1 opportunities follow; all productions are on Broadway unless otherwise noted:

SDCF Shadows

• Niani Feelings and Maria Huey (Bad Cinderella technical rehearsals with Choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter)
• Eric Gelb and Makenna Masenheimer (Hamilton: An American Musical with Resident Director Hannah Ryan)

SDCF Observers

• Mayah Lourdes Burke (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window by Lorraine Hansberry with Director Anne Kauffman at Brooklyn Academy of Music)
• Claudia Mulet (New York, New York with Director and Choreographer Susan Stroman)
• Jean Carlo Yunén Aróstegui and Sarah Shin (Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Director Thomas Kail)

SDCF Fellows

• Melory Mirashrafi (Young Americans by Lauren Yee with Director Desdemona Chiang at Portland Center Stage & Pittsburgh Public Theater)
• Ashley Malafronte ( SDCF Noël Coward Fellow - Private Lives by Noël Coward with Director KJ Sanchez at Arizona Theatre Company)

The goals of this program are to provide access for directors and/or choreographers who have not seen the work of an experienced director/choreographer (Mentor) or have not previously worked on a certain type of production or at a certain level, and to provide mentorship from experienced directors and choreographers to newer directors and choreographers. The Professional Development program will provide three types of opportunities throughout the year: Shadows, Observers, and Fellows. Shadows are short-term opportunities to watch one specific aspect of a production process. Observerships are production-long opportunities to watch the production process from first rehearsal to opening night. Fellowships allow someone to support a director and/or choreographer during a production process as part of the artistic team.

To learn more about these artists, please visit: https://sdcfoundation.org/professional-development-program-2022-2023-season-cycle-1-participants/

To learn more about the Professional Development Program, please click here. To join SDCF's mailing list to stay up to date about all SDCF programs, please click here.

Founded in 1965, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) celebrates, develops, and supports professional stage directors and choreographers throughout every phase of their careers. We work to build a theatrical community that reflects the cultural, racial, and gender diversity of our nation by creating opportunities for artists of all backgrounds to bring their full, authentic selves to their work as creative leaders in the theatre.

SDCF is committed to fostering an environment that is inclusive and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression in its programs or activities. www.sdcfoundation.org.