childhood friends, andrew palermo and taye diggs have worked together for over eighteen years. natives of rochester, ny, they are proud graduates of the school of the arts. in rochester, they had the opportunity to study under internationally renowned choreographers garth fagan and timothy draper. taye went on to receive his bfa from syracuse university while andrew earned his degree from the university of cincinnati, ccm. their continued education experience was rounded out by such notable teachers as milton myers and original alvin ailey company member, james truitte.

in 2004, andrew and taye formed dre.dance, a nyc based contemporary dance company that has quickly garnered praise from the new york times, the new york post, the new yorker, new york magazine, the new york sun and other publications, calling the young company 'powerful', 'athletic', 'gifted', 'passionate', 'propulsive', 'unexpected', 'wonderful', 'weird', 'abstract', and a bunch of other cool adjectives. dre.dance's world premiere performance, 'cold water', was presented at the joffrey ballet school's gala 2005. the 8-11 member company has since presented three full-length new york seasons (two at ailey citigroup theatre, one at joyce soho), as well as performances at the new york city festival of dance, dance new amsterdam's 'in the company of men' festival, tribeca p.a.c.'s 'work and show' festival, the usdan concert series, the ugandan arts benefit at john jay college, and a well-noticed solo for desmond richardson, originally presented as part of complexions contemporary ballet's 2007 joyce season.

dre.dance recently completed a residency at wichita state university, teaching classes and setting the first section of their new work beyond.words. this new piece centers on the autistic spectrum and will continue to be developed as part of the company's current residency at joyce soho. in addition to these residencies, dre.dance embarks on its second year as artist in residence at tribeca performing arts center. this residency will culminate in the fall of '08, presenting a collaborative evening-length work with fellow tribeca p.a.c. air, composer, rob reddy.

in addition to performance, andrew and taye proudly conduct residencies and masterclasses in contemporary dance, musical theater, hip-hop, jazz, and acting/audition techniques. they've provided instruction and/or built new work at the university of cincinnati-ccm, university of michigan, syracuse university, pepperdine university, wichita state university, suny potsdam, rochester school of the arts, dance new amsterdam (begins nov. 07, see our 'news' page), broadway dance center, edge p.a.c., millennium dance complex, and numerous national conventions, studios and performing arts camps.

outside of dre.dance, andrew's stage choreography credits include great joy at new amsterdam theatre, kristin chenoweth at carnegie hall, x'posed/jai rodriquez at hudson theatre, journey to the west at 37 arts, new york city festival of dance 2005 featuring idina menzel, 1969 a year in review at douglas fairbanks theatre, ace at the old globe, repertory theatre of st. louis and cincinnati playhouse in the park, bright lights, big city at prince music theatre, aida at music theatre of wichita, man of la mancha at sacramento music circus and the wild party (lippa) at wichita state university. for the camera, andrew has choreographed for comedy central's "stella", the film holey habits, as well as commercials for g-shock and the showtime network/apple computers.

as performers, andrew and taye have appeared on broadway, off broadway and in touring productions of carousel, how to succeed in business.., rent, annie get your gun, west side story, the wild party, little fish, chicago, a soldier's play, and wicked.

additionally, taye has numerous television credits to his name, including "kevin hill" (upn), "ally mcbeal" (fox), "daybreak" (abc) and this season's, "private practice" (abc). his feature film credits include how stella got her groove back, brown sugar, chicago, rent, and many others.