“I am a queer, 90s Philly kid, Italian Brazilian American movement artist exploring many mediums and crafts. Pulling from horror cinema, childhood trauma and memory, and imaginative queer futurism, I strive to make art for the soul And from the heart. To see and understand more, to heal, to give courage, and to simply continue in this crazy world.” -Mark

2023 PRINCESS GRACE AWARD RECIPIENT in Choreography

2023 ANN & WESTIN HICKS CHOREOGRAPHY FELLOW at Jacob’s Pillow

MARK CASERTA

(he/they)

born and raised in South West Philadelphia, graduated from the University of the Arts School of Dance (BFA, Dance & Ballet Performance 2010). They’ve danced professionally with international touring companies Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz De Montreal and Camille A. Brown & Dancers since then. Mark has been awarded the Philadelphia Rocky Award for Outstanding Dance Performance, the Pennsylvania Ballet Choreography Award, several Outstanding Choreography Awards from Youth American Grand Prix and the 2020 EMERGE Choreography Award from Gibney Company & Springboard Danse Montreal, where they were a 2018 Emerging Choreographer. Mark was recently named a 2023 Princess Grace Award Winner in Choreography and a 2023 Ann & Westin Hicks Choreography Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow. Mark premiered their first full evening length work entitled ‘BIG KID’ at Gibney Dance New York in February 2019. Since then Mark has presented and self produced 3 more evening length works in Philadelphia, home to their movement collective BIGKID Dance. Mark has been commissioned by American Ballet Theater (ABT/ABT Incubator), Gibney Company, Philadelphia Ballet II, Grace Dance Theater, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, Kit Modus, Whim W’him Contemporary Dance Seattle, Black Light Summit and DanceWorks Chicago for new choreographic works. They have also created work on the University of the Arts School of Dance, The Ailey School, Peridance Youth Ensemble and Pace University. Mark was co-director of The Thriving Artist Project from 2017-2020, a program offering a free Pre-Professional experience to young dance artists in Plano, TX. Mark was Artist in Residence and an adjunct professor at University of the Arts School of Dance (2021-2024). Currently, Mark is Contemporary Faculty at Peridance and Gibney Dance NY, a global ambassador with MindLeaps, guest faculty at Bennington College and a freelance educator, dancer and choreographer. Mark started BIGKID Dance in 2021, a queer movement community/ collective based in Philadelphia. BIGKID Dance is dedicated to queer story telling through compelling and theatrical contemporary dance works. Providing and unapologetically queer presence in the dance community, we have become a tiny lighthouse for queer dance artists across the country through our performances, workshops and general presence. BIGKID Dance has hosted 5 community workshops since 2021, bringing in some of today’s most influential dance artists, broadening Philly’s dance scope, providing a safe dance platform for artists, primarily queer artists, seeking it and creating community together all the while. BIGKID Dance is currently in process for building a new evening length work in residence at the DancePlace (Washington DC) and supported by MAP Fund & MidAtlantic Arts Fund, that will premier in it’s entirety in 2025.

My mission is to create safe space for myself and for other artists to come together and share. To grow as a community and reconnect us to ourselves, our world(s), our earth and each other.