TO LEAVE YOU

Robyn Mineko Williams is a Chicago-based director and interdisciplinary artist drawn to embodiments of memory, time, lineage, and our relationships with traces left by the people we encounter. After 12 seasons as a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, she founded Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists (RMW&A) a collaborative platform that intertwines movement, design, and sound to create place-sensitive works that blur the boundaries between performance, installation, and public space. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally with commissions for MCA Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Malpaso Dance Company, among others. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation–USA Choreographic Fellowship and the Walder Foundation Platform Award, and has held residencies at Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Momentary at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Williams works as a creative director and a movement consultant across film, installation, and immersive events, and serves on faculty at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Jason Hortin began dancing at Debbi’s Dance in Olympia, WA. He has a BFA in Dance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and an MFA in Dance from the University of Arizona. Professional credits include Moving People Dance Theatre, Erick Hawkins Dance Company, River North Dance Chicago, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Hortin is currently an assistant professor of dance at UNLV and actively restages works by Penny Saunders and Robyn Mineko Williams throughout the country.

Nate Kinsella is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer whose work blurs the boundaries between pop and the avant-garde. Described by The New York Times as “arrestingly beautiful,” his compositions have appeared in film and podcasts, including the internationally award-winning science film biopixels and the Webby-winning podcast Masters of Scale. Kinsella is a member of the genre-defining emo band American Football and has performed at major festivals worldwide, including Fuji Rock, Reading and Leeds, Primavera Sound, and Pitchfork.

Raised in Salt Lake City, Jessica Tong attended the University of Utah, where she danced as a member of Utah Ballet. She went on to perform with BalletMet Columbus, Ballet Tech, and Hubbard Street 2 before joining the main company of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where she danced for 11 years. Tong later transitioned into leadership roles within the organization, becoming rehearsal director and, in 2020, associate artistic director. Named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2009, Tong has contributed to the dance community through service on the Ambassador Committee for Dance for Life Chicago, participation on national grant panels, and mentorship programs such as 92NY’s Future Dance Festival, Rhode Island Women’s Choreographic Project, and TU Dance: CULTIVATE. An accomplished teacher, she has led movement classes across the country and staged works for companies including Pacific Northwest Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. Tong was also a founding board member of the Gold Standard Arts Foundation and has served as rehearsal director for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham since 2022.

Julia Miller is a visual storyteller working in puppetry, theater, and film. Drawn to the art of breathing life into the inanimate and telling stories without words, she is a director, puppeteer, and designer based in Chicago. She is also the founder and coartistic director of Manual Cinema, the Emmy Award–winning cinematic shadow puppet company she helped establish in 2010.

Claire Chrzan is originally from Chicago, currently based in Los Angeles. She is inspired to design work that breathes and moves in tandem with performers. Her work has been seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, at The Public Theatre Under The Radar Festival, at The Utah Shakespeare Festival, and in Chicago at The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, Northlight, A Red Orchid, in collaborations with Manual Cinema, and The Joffrey Ballet's Joffrey Academy, and more. She has worked as an associate designer at A.R.T in Boston, The Wallis and The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, and The Old Globe in San Diego. Additionally, Claire designs lighting for permanent installation ranging from themed entertainment, experiences, restaurants, museums, private residences, and offices. Claire holds a masters degree in experience design from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in theatrical design from Columbia College Chicago. Claire is currently teaching lighting design at CalArts.

Hogan McLaughlin is an American fashion designer, artist, and dancer.  He began his professional career as a ballet dancer, performing with the internationally acclaimed Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and their junior company Hubbard Street 2. In 2011, he met and collaborated with artist Daphne Guinness on his first garments, which were featured in the windows of the former Barneys New York Madison Avenue, and at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  Later that year, McLaughlin launched his first collection for New York Fashion Week, was subsequently profiled by The New York Times, WWD, and Vogue, among others, and was given the opportunity to create custom pieces for Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way Ball”. McLaughlin frequently works with some of today’s most celebrated choreographers, bringing his designs to the world’s leading dance companies on international stages. As an illustrator, he has had the pleasure of creating official promotional images for HBO's Game of Thrones, Showtime's Penny Dreadful, and History Channel's Vikings. Most recently, McLaughlin and his partner, artist Bill Crisafi, have been creating collaborative, immersive installations of their work for various museums and galleries throughout the country.

To Leave You was originally commissioned by and previewed at MCA Chicago in September 2025 for its 2025 Chicago Performs festival. Creative residencies for To Leave You were provided by DESERTRADE, Ragdale Foundation and Meredith Dincolo and Jose Alejandro Segura. Production residency for the work provided by The Momentary at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Robyn Mineko Williams is a 2024 Walder Foundation Platform Awardee and a 2025 NDP Finalist Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council. Special thank yous to Karen Castleman, Todd Clark, Terence Marling, Jeff Corbin and Massimo Pacilli, Jay and Donna Williams, Courtney and Garrett Anderson, Manual Cinema, and the families of the creative team.

To Leave You is an immersive, interdisciplinary performance acknowledging the impressions we leave in and for one another as we live and pass on. Created and performed by a team of acclaimed artists - dancers, Jessica Tong and Jason Hortin, musician/composer, Nate Kinsella and visual artist, Julia Miller and director/choreographer, Robyn Mineko Williams - To Leave You seamlessly blends movement, music, place, and projection into a tapestry of scenes mapping the essences, memories and messages we leave behind when we exit this world.