Accidental Suite

Aaron Selissen is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, a New York City based contemporary dance company founded in 2009 with partner Kyla Barkin. Originally from Green Bay, WI, he received his B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University.

He has directed several short films, including Slice of Rain, The Sun Never Came Out Today … And Other Melancholy Statements, Seven Armed Mind, and Concrete Illusion, which premiered on Martha’s Vineyard as part of Sally Taylor’s ConSenses, to name a few.

His choreographic work has been presented live at such venues as the Inside/Out Series at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Staller Center for the Arts, Main Stage at Stony Brook University, Bryant Park, the 92 St. Y, West End Theater, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Flea Theater, and more.

Aaron has taught master classes and workshops in public schools throughout New York City, the United States, and abroad. He can be found teaching at the Limón Institute, as well as giving private lessons.

Selissen’s performance career has taken him around the world. He worked with Dance Kaleidoscope and Ballet Internationale of Indianapolis. He has performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, among many others. He was a member of the Limón Dance Company from 2010 to 2016 and can currently be seen performing with Janis Brenner and Dancers (since 2007) as well as Barkin/Selissen Project.

Kyla Barkin, Founding Director & Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, was raised in Tempe, AZ. She studied with “La Mariquilla” at the Academia de Ballet Flamenco in Granada, Spain then received her B.A. in Dance from UCLA. Ms. Barkin has toured internationally, is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Jean Irwin Award.

Barkin’s choreography has been widely shown including at The Staller Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow 80th Anniversary at Inside/Out, Jazz at Lincoln Center, West End Theater, Boston’s Dance Complex, Touhill PAC (St. Louis, MO), Bryant Park, and the 92nd St Y. Her work has also been presented internationally at venues in Berlin (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and more. Notable collaborations include dance films made with Juano Castillo, FALKOR Systems’ autonomous pet drone, Reggie Watts for Sally Taylor’s ConSenses, James Simons, Sirius String Quartet, and Nel Shelby on Differential Cohomology & its documentary, and an on-going artistic partnership with composer James Guastaferro.

Barkin has been working with Janis Brenner & Dancers since 1998 and has taught and set works, both of Brenner’s and her own, at institutions such as NCSA, The Juilliard School, The Joffrey School, Stony Brook University, the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn, and Tanzakademie Balance 1 in Berlin. She has danced with other major companies including Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and The Doug Elkins Dance Company. She has been on faculty at USDAN Center for Performing Arts and continues to teach classes, private lessons and workshops both in the United States and internationally. Ms. Barkin is also proud to serve on the board of the Foundation for a Just Society.