Previously called the SDCF Observership Program, SDCF’s revitalized Professional Development Program provides opportunities for early career directors and choreographers to observe and/or support experienced directors and choreographers during the production process. The program’s primary focus will be emerging and early-career artists, though there may be opportunities for mid-career artists during a season as well. Each opportunity will be determined around individual applications and the specific circumstances of the opportunity. Applicants do not need to be Members of SDC for most opportunities; any opportunities that are only for SDC Members and Associate Members will be clearly labeled. Any applicant currently enrolled in a collegiate level institution must have completed their program by the start date of any opportunity they are applying for.

The goals of this program are to:

• provide access to directors and/or choreographers who have not seen the work of an experienced director/choreographer (Mentor), or have not previously worked on a certain type of production or at a certain level
• provide mentorship from experienced directors and choreographers to newer directors and choreographers

Shadows – Short-term opportunity to watch one specific aspect of a production process (such as pre-pro for choreographers, the design process, table work, first two weeks on your feet, tech and/or previews).

Receives a $600/week stipend; the total amount will depend on the length of the opportunity.

Observers – Production-long opportunity to watch the production process from first rehearsal to opening night. Well suited for directors and/or choreographers who have not had access to a professional theatrical experience before, an experience of the type of production being worked on, or who are specifically interested in watching the Mentor on the production.

Receives a $800/week stipend; the total amount will depend on the length of the opportunity.

Fellows – Supports a director and/or choreographer during a production process as part of the artistic team. This is ideal for someone who has already had some directing and/or choreography experience and is looking to further develop their craft through more active participation.

Receives a $1,000/week stipend; the total amount will depend on the length of the opportunity.

Two to three times a year, we open applications for artists to apply. The timing of the opening of applications fluctuates year to year, therefore, please keep an eye on the website for upcoming application timelines. Applications will be evaluated by the SDCF staff as well as a panel of directors and choreographers. If you are a finalist for an opportunity, you will be contacted by SDCF staff.  

Applications will be evaluated on the following three categories:

Clarity: The applicant’s ability to articulate interest, with specificity, in the theatrical art form and in their own work as a director and/or choreographer. Their response has clarity of thought, understanding, and focus.

Timing: The applicant speaks to why this is the specific right moment in their career to participate in the given opportunity.

Access & Impact: The applicant articulates why this production opportunity would give them access to knowledge and/or a type of educational theatrical experience they do not currently have.

To read FAQs about the Professional Development Program, please click here

SDCF Choreography Fellow – Beaches A New Musical with Jennifer Rias on Broadway

ALICIA NEWCOM (she/her) is incredibly thankful to SDCF, Jennifer Rias, and Lonny, Matt, and everyone at Beaches The Musical for the opportunity to be the SDCF choreography fellow on this production. She very much looks forward to learning under Jennifer Rias’s incredible leadership. Alicia is a choreographer, associate choreographer, Broadway performer, and dance educator based in NYC. Her main focus is building and facilitating theatrical spaces where everyone’s humanity is seen and respected. As an associate, Alicia has worked as associate/assistant choreographer to Charlie Sutton, Billy Griffin, Mark Myars, Al Blackstone, Phil Colgan, and Nicholas Palmquist. Recently, she was the dance assistant to Mark Myars for the NBCUniversal Upfronts at Radio City Music Hall and associate choreographer to Phil Colgan for music video “Days Gone By” by Midlake (starring Ted Lasso’s James Lance). As a performer, select credits include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Radio City Rockette), Wicked (Broadway and national tour), 42nd Street (national tour), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (PCLO: associate choreographer/swing/dance captain), MTV VMAs, the TODAY Show, the Tony Awards, Gateway Playhouse, The REV Theatre Company, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, and Arizona Broadway Theatre. She has taught at Steps, Broadway Dance Center, and Rosie’s Theater Kids, and she enjoys studying leadership and organizing and applying those skills to advocate for more humane theatrical spaces. Alicia also hosts the podcast Assembly Guide: “Your guide to assembling and organizing as we work to make change in our theatrical industry.” @alicia_newcom www.alicianewcom.com

SDCF Directing Fellow – Cats: The Jellicle Ball with Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch on Broadway

Julian X is thrilled to be making a Broadway debut with CATS: The Jellicle Ball. An award-winning director, performer, and multidisciplinary creator based in New York City, creating rhythm-driven theater rooted in QTBIPOC+ lineages and liberation. BFA Theatre Arts, Boston University. Developed and produced work with New York Theatre Workshop, The Theatre Offensive, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Selected credits: Laure (NYTW/The Tank), Toni Stone (Huntington Theatre), Smoke, Where the Black Boys Are, and more. Gratitude to his mom and Maw-Maw for their sacrifice and continued love. IG: @julianwhxs

SDCF Directing Observer – I & You The Musical with Director Sarah Rasmussen at Olney Theatre Center

Eliyana Abraham is an NYC-based director of theatre, musical theatre, and opera. She believes that humor, music, and movement are some of the best tools for exploring difficult subjects and amplifying marginalized experiences. Eliyana is currently the SDCF Directing Observer on I & You at Olney Theatre Center. Select directing credits: Bury Your Gays in concert (Bechdel Project/Ring of Keys); Jungle Restaurant (Caveat); The Bridges of Madison County (Princeton Summer Theater); ULTIMATE (The Tank); The Last Five Years (Princeton Summer Theater); Affecting Expression (The Tank, 2024 and Princeton University, 2022); Peerless (Princeton Summer Theater); Shrek the Musical (Princeton University). Assistant directing and choreography: Street Scene (Queens College); The Marriage of Figaro (Hofstra University); Cabaret (Princeton University). B. A. Princeton University.

SDCF Directing Fellow – FENCES, with Director Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg at The Old Globe in San Diego

Juyoung Koh (she/her) is a Korean-born theatre director and theatre maker. She is also a co-founder and associate director of JAEMI THEATRE, where she is committed to strengthening API-led theatre spaces and leadership. She is deeply grateful to SDCF, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, The Old Globe, and the FENCES team for the opportunity to join FENCES by August Wilson with Delicia Turner Sonnenberg at The Old Globe as a Directing Fellow.

Juyoung’s work explores contemporary issues, women’s experiences, and stories shaped by migration. She spent five years with New Universe Theatre Company in South Korea, working in ensemble-based devised theatre and contributing to award-winning productions. Her selected works include The Princesses: Masters of Their Holes (Arko Arts Theater, Seoul), Egalia’s Daughters (Doosan Art Center, Seoul), and The Shape of Our Days (Arko Arts Theater, Seoul). Most recently, she served as Production Manager for the staged reading of Baal at the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival 2026 in Washington, D.C.

She approaches directing as both an artistic and structural practice, shaping not only performance but the conditions in which meaning emerges through collective authorship, the negotiation of power, and the transformation of personal memory into shared theatrical language.

She is set to begin graduate study in theatre directing at TXST, where she seeks to grow as a director and leader in building collaborative and culturally responsive theatre spaces. @juyoung_zip | www.juyoungkoh.com

SDCF Directing Observer – West Side Story with Artistic Director Mark S. Hoebee at Paper Mill Playhouse

Carlos is a Dominican-born multidisciplinary director based in Brooklyn, NY, and Pittsburgh, PA. Most recently, he directed Love and Information at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. He is a graduate of the John Wells Directing Program at Carnegie Mellon University (MFA, 2025), where he directed Ghosts, Lonely Planet, and Flores Para los Muertos (adaptation of Streetcar). His short films include Lino & Enzo, Oysters for Breakfast, and Frequencies. Carlos began his training in Production Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he served as assistant director for The Lucas Show and live sound effects designer for Men on Boats, among other projects. Back in 2020, he founded Punto Zeta Productions, a theater company dedicated to reimagining theatre in the Dominican Republic. As its artistic director, he has directed, designed, and translated Metamorphoses, Masque of the Red Death, Art, and Noises Off, and devised original pieces Morir Soñando and Entre Líneas. He also translated and directed the premiere Dominican production of Spelling Bee. In Pittsburgh, Carlos has worked as assistant director on Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Dial M for Murder and as assistant director/translator for Somewhere Over the Border at City Theatre. Alongside his work, he is a poster designer and has created artwork for Carnegie Mellon University’s productions across four consecutive seasons. Carlos is currently working on branching out into playwriting, establishing himself as a writer-director with an eye toward adaptations. He is beyond thrilled to join Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of West Side Story as Directing Observer (SDCF). cemartinez.com

SDCF Directing Observer – The Balusters at MTC with Kenny Leon on Broadway

Chloé Yasmine (she/her) is a multidisciplinary storyteller from the Flint area of Michigan, currently based in New York City. She is a recent graduate of Howard University, where she earned a BFA in Theatre Arts.

Raised in a community where creativity was abundant but rarely resourced, Chloé comes from a lineage of storytellers whose work often lived privately, words staying within journals, songs sung behind closed doors, dances performed in the company of loved ones. Her work seeks to bring what has lived privately into shared space, honoring stories too often hidden or dismissed.

Her artistic practice spans theatre, film, and visual arts, and is rooted in the Black American experience expressed through work that is bold in form and anchored in truth. As a mental health advocate, internal complexities often drive her use of surrealism to illuminate inner emotional landscapes that realism alone cannot fully capture. Chloé’s work provokes audiences to reflect not only on the world around them but themselves internally.

Her credits include SDCF Directing Observership on THE BALUSTERS By David Lindsay- Abaire Directed by Kenny Leon, producing and casting the Disney Storyteller’s Fund short film WITHERED (Official Selection: HBCU First Look and New York Tri-State International Film Festival), writing and directing the award-winning stage play CONSUME (Howard Players 8×10 Play Festival), assistant directing A RHYME DEFERRED, acting in THE PUPPET SHOW  by Robert Hudson.

SDCF Directing Observer – WINDFALL, with Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg, at Steppenwolf

Jaquita Ta’le is an LA based multi-disciplinary artist and co-artistic director of the emerging theatre company Bottle Tree Theatre. She marked her official directorial debut with I Sell Windows, a solo show with puppetry (Outside In Theatre, Assembly Festival- Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024). With Bottle Tree Theatre, Jaquita has also been instrumental in the creation of two flagship initiatives: a live storytelling series highlighting underrepresented voices, The Cicada, and a play reading series, The Recipe Book, dedicated to emerging playwrights and lesser known works of legacy artists. While at NYU Tisch’s Experimental Theatre Wing, she also studied spoken word performance and poetry at Johannesburg’s University of Witwatersrand and modern, folkloric, and experimental dance in Havana, Cuba. As a Voice Over Artist, Jaquita has lent her talents to over 100 TV shows and films. Acting credits include: (Theater) The Heal (The Getty Villa), Too Heavy For Your Pocket (Ovation Awards Nominated- Sacred Fools), (Little Children Dream of God (The Road Theatre), And Then They Fell (Atwater Village Theatre),  (Film/Television) Pinocchio, Good Behavior, Castle, Shameless, Criminal Minds.

SDCF Directing Observer – Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, with Dan Knechtges, at Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS)

Bio coming soon.

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