BARE BAIT DANCE

about

Bare Bait Dance was born from a place of curiosity and need. In 2011, Montana had a surprising lack of opportunities for dancers. That does not mean there was nothing (special shout-out to Amy Ragsdale and her devotion to the dance community with both MoTrans and Headwaters). However, there definitely was space for MORE. More opportunities for dancers to perform, for choreographers to create, for audiences to see.

That was the initial impulse of founder and director, Joy French: to create a home for professional dancers in Montana. She also saw BBD as creative platform for French to build her choreographic career.

Many years later, BBD has grown to include guest residencies, teaching residencies, regional tours, video productions, a film festival, and a multitude of collaborative projects. Every year we strive to do more / do better for this region.

Thus, BBD emerged as first a home for me to play with the generous and talented dancers of western Montana and has now grown into a home for contemporary dance in the region. I am proud of what BBD has accomplished and so honored that audiences continue to be curious with me about what contemporary dance and performance is and can be.

Origin of the name:

If you had the choice between seeing a Shakespearean play… and watching arena-style bear-baiting… which would you choose?

Our long-deceased fellow earth-dwellers in 16th-century England would’ve had those two romping choices for their Saturday night entertainment.

Fast-forward to today: Shakespeare’s work is most often affiliated with the other “high arts” like opera, the symphony, and, of course, ballet. So does it come to mean that those of us who don’t quite fit into the classical models of the performing arts are just… bear-bait-ing?

Absolutely. But now we embrace a slightly different “bare” (to be raw and vulnerable as an artist), along with the “bait" (enticing the creative muse and audiences alike). Thus, the name was born from the arena to the stage: BARE BAIT DANCE.

2025 | 2026 Company

joy french

FOUNDER | DIRECTOR
Joy French is a dancer, choreographer, videographer and producer. Her creative journey started on the stages of mid-Missouri, then she traveled for a year post-high-school with Up With People before landing in Missoula for undergrad. Her professional stage debut was with MoTrans Dance Company, under the direction of Amy Ragsdale, and Joy would go on to dance with MoTrans’ incarnation as Headwaters Dance Co. (Missoula) as well as The CoMotion Dance Project (Missoula), Evolving Doors Dance (Boulder, CO), Impact Dance Company (Ft. Collins, CO), and betterbisquitdance (Seattle, WA).
Wanting to pursue graduate studies in dance, Joy studied at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her passion for dance and film led her to create original screendance shorts, many selected for screenings at Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema (Boulder, CO), as well as being hired as Property Master for a feature dance film, Leading Ladies, directed by Erika Randall, which premiered at the Sonoma International Film Festival in 2010. Joy and Erika collaborated again in a tour through Costa Rica, performing and teaching, sponsored by Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano which selected Joy as a “Promising Artist of the 21st Century.”
After earning her MFA in Performance and Choreography, Joy returned to Missoula, MT and in 2011 founded Bare Bait Dance. Joy created BBD to be a home for dancers in the region and to produce nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. In recognition of her devotion to her art and the state, Joy has received an Artist's Innovation Award (2017) from the Montana Arts Council and was Arts Missoula’s Individual Artist awardee (2022) . Beyond Montana, Joy has taught and creatively collaborated with Bellingham Repertory Dance, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School, Ursinus College, and the University of Colorado-Boulder. Joy recently added to her movement arsenal by becoming a Peak Pilates Certified instructor and is currently teaching clients at Main Street Pilates Studio.
TIKI PRESTON

6TH SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Tiki Preston has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Originally from the Black Hills of South Dakota, she moved to Missoula in 2016 to pursue her BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography and Performance at the University of Montana. Now entering her sixth season with Bare Bait Dance, Tiki continues to expand her artistry as both a performer and teacher.
Her training spans a wide range of movement styles, from Modern and Contemporary dance to Ballroom and Commercial forms. She was recognized with the Award of Excellence from UM’s Theatre and Dance Department (2017–18) and received the Talent Scholarship in 2019. In addition to the stage, Tiki has appeared on screen, performing in Please Baby Please (dir. Amanda Kramer, 2022), filmed in Butte, Montana.
Tiki teaches Commercial dance for adults in Missoula and is the founder of Tiki Preston Wedding Choreography, where she specializes in creating personalized first dances for couples—whether it’s Country Swing, Latin, Waltz, or simply learning to move together with confidence and grace.
One of the few Acrobatic Arts Certified Instructors in Montana, Tiki brings a unique blend of athleticism and artistry to her teaching. Deeply rooted in Missoula’s dance community, she is committed to sharing her passion for movement throughout Missoula and the Flathead Valley.
Maeve Fahey

5TH SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Maeve Fahey was raised in Missoula, and in her youth trained in Ballet, Modern, and Jazz techniques at Ballet Arts Academy. While still in high school, she had the privilege of apprenticing with Bare Bait Dance for two of their seasons. After graduating, Maeve moved to San Francisco to train with the world-renowned contemporary ballet company, Alonzo King LINES Ballet. After spending two years there and receiving her certificate of completion, she moved back to Missoula in 2020 and graduated with a BA in dance and anthropology from the University of Montana in 2022. Maeve also worked with the local nonprofit Arts&Above as a freelance dancer and facilitator, taught at dance studios in town (Ballet Arts Academy and Show Tyme Academy), and was a company member for four consecutive seasons with BBD.
Maeve spent this past year in Ireland pursuing a master’s degree in Contemporary Dance Performance from the University of Limerick. There she had the privilege of performing "Bridging", a work by Amir Sabra, in What Next Dance Festival and Take-Off Dance Festival. She also worked with notable choreographers like Mufutau Yusuf, Liz Roche Dance Company, and Jack Philip. Maeve additionally taught some of the BA contemporary dancers at the University's Irish World Academy, and worked for the non-profit Dance Limerick as a facilitator and educator.
Maeve recently returned to the U.S., and is thrilled to be reunited with her Missoula community and rejoin BBD as a company member for Season 15!
HANNAH DUSEK

3RD SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Hannah Dusek is a dancer, choreographer, and performer. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Hannah trained in the pre-professional company, Beyond Words Dance Company, for 8 years, under the direction of Kate Jablonski. Graduating out of the company, she moved to Missoula, Montana to pursue dance at the University of Montana, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Choreography and Performance, along with her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology, in May of 2023. While studying in the dance program, Hannah had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Noel Price-Bracey and Ishmael Houston-Jones.
Still working closely with Jablonski while attending college elsewhere, Hannah got the amazing performance opportunity in July of 2022, to travel to Šibenik, Croatia as a part of the Kate Jablonski Statement. She performed in the Šibenik Dance Festival alongside companies from Hungary, Israel, and other parts of Croatia.
Once out of college, along with joining Bare Bait Dance Company in 2023, she and two other colleagues co-founded Kinetic Convergence Dance Collective, also based in Missoula, where she has been able to give more dancers opportunities to do what she loves. This being her third year on BBD, she is beyond excited to continue on another year with this incredible company, while also having the support from the BBD team to continue her choreographic and producing dreams with KCD. She is absolutely mesmerized by the incredible arts community that thrives in Missoula, and is so grateful to continue being a part of it.
Lia Wong

3RD SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Lia Wong is a performing dance artist, choreographer, and teacher originally from Eugene, Oregon. She graduated from the University of Utah where she earned her BFA in Modern Dance and BA in Psychology. Lia’s training has been supported by strong mentors, Sarah Ebert and Miranda Atkinson, as well as through programs with SALT Contemporary Dance, Bates Dance Festival, Countertechnique, and American Dance Festival. Since relocating to Missoula in 2022, Lia joined Bare Bait Dance for their 12th season as a guest artist and is now entering her 3 rd season as a company member. Locally, Lia has also guested with Kinetic Convergence Dance (KCD), choreographed for Ballet Arts Academy’s Studio Company, taught at Roots Dance and Gymnastics, and often teaches Bare Bait’s community classes. Lia has an unwavering dedication for the arts and hopes to continue to foster welcoming spaces for community building, exchange of knowledge, and artistic exploration. Lia is thrilled to continue dancing with BBD for its 15th season and feels lucky to be a part of the thriving arts community in Missoula!
toree wilson

2ND SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Toree Wilson (she/her) was raised in Iowa where she grew up at her mothers dance studio. She then moved to Chicago, IL and completed her BFA in Dance at Columbia College Chicago in 2020. During her time there she studied performance, pedagogue, and choreography. She also got the opportunity to perform, teach, and train at Camping, a dance festival in Paris, France.
Wilson performed in many works and spaces including Hang Onto Me during WestFEST in Missoula, MT (Francesca Romo + Michaela Ellingson 2025). Is This It? Bare Bait Dance (Joy French 2025). Hansel and Gretel Helena Symphony in (Heather Adams 2024). Scores From a Friend at OK… GO! (Toree Wilson 2023). Worked in partnership with Dance Initiative Inc. in Carbondale, CO (Megan Janssen 2023). Participated and performed in LINK a dance festival in Salt Lake City, UT (2022). Worked with colleague Nicholas Cooper through the Marshall County Arts + Culture Alliance to create a five part dance film series in (2020). Additional works and choreography by Courtney Mazeika, Darrell Jones, Qudus Onikeku, Paige Cunningham, among others.
You can also find Toree teaching across Montana from Butte to Missoula. She is so thrilled to be living in Missoula and absorbing all it has to offer with her husband and their two pups! She is stoked to be joining Bare Bait Dance again for a second season!
sofia sant'anna-skites

1ST SEASON COMPANY MEMBER
Sofia Sant’Anna-Skites (she/her) grew up in Chicago and Evanston, IL and trained in modern, ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop. Sofia fell in love with performing at a young age and got her first taste of Missoula when she attended the Missoula Children’s Theater Performing Arts Camp as a teenager. Before permanently landing in Missoula, she attended the University of Utah, where she received a BFA in modern dance and a BA in English. During her four and half years in Salt Lake City, Sofia performed in works by esteemed faculty members as well as in guest works by New York-based choreographers Darrell Grand Moultrie and Anna Azrieli. She also explored mixed media arts, creating and performing multiple solo works that incorporated dance, film, writing and sound design. Upon graduating, Sofia finally found her way home to Missoula, where she has taught, choreographed and freelanced locally for three years. Sofia has guest danced with BBD in three unique performances, and she is thrilled to now be joining as a company member!