Rachel Marchica is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received her BFA in Dance and Certificate in Arts Management. She was also the recipient of the Chancellor’s Talent Award in Dance. Rachel has studied under the direction of Paul Dennis, Thomas Vacanti, Lauren Cox, Adriana Suarez, Gianni Di Marco, Sheryl Thomas, and Earl Mosley. She spent the first part of the spring 2020 semester studying the Gaga movement language at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Rachel has attended summer intensives at GagaLab Online, Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts, Bates Dance Festival, Jose Limon Dance Foundation, and Boston Dance Theater.  She has performed works by artists including Thomas Vacanti, Sidra Bell, Alexander Diaz, Rachel List, Christal Brown, Mathew Rushing, Anton Ovchinnikov (Ukraine), and I-Fen Tung (Taiwan). Rachel currently lives in NYC where she attends the Limon Dance Company Professional Training Program and is an arts management intern for the organization. 

Nicole Testa is a recent graduate of Boston University with a major in accounting and management and organizations. Since graduating, Nicole has begun working as an audit associate with KPMG. In addition to the more technical field of accounting, Nicole earned a minor in dance. She has studied many different styles of dance, with a recent focus in ballet. Nicole has performed with BU’S Dance Theater Group throughout her college career and has taken classes such as 20th Century Dance History, Light and Movement, and Aesthetics of Dance. She also worked to implement and build a social media presence for a local studio during the summer after her freshman year of college. Nicole worked as an acro and youth musical intern at her dance studio in high school and enjoyed performing with their competition team. Nicole is delighted to be able to take part in Movement Toward Change as a co-host.