Today we’d like to introduce you to STYX The Company.
Hi STYX, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Founded and directed by Brianna Campbell and Mika Santo, STYX The Company was created from a shared desire to build a space where contemporary dance, storytelling, theatricality, and cinematic influence could coexist. Since its founding in Miami, the company has focused on creating immersive, emotionally driven work that blends athletic movement with strong visual and narrative elements. What began as small concept pieces and creative collaborations through Zenki Productions gradually evolved into a professional contemporary company dedicated to both performance and community engagement.
Over the years, STYX has grown into a company that performs, teaches, and collaborates throughout South Florida while also bringing work back to Charleston for performances and educational opportunities. The company’s work often explores character-driven storytelling and cinematic staging, helping bridge the gap between concert dance and broader audiences. Through productions such as *The Teller* and the upcoming continuation, *The Teller Returns*, STYX continues to expand its artistic voice while creating accessible experiences for audiences of all backgrounds.
At its core, STYX was built on collaboration, artistic curiosity, and community. The goal has always been to create opportunities for dancers to grow within a professional environment while presenting contemporary work that feels immersive, physically dynamic, and emotionally connected. Watching the company evolve from an idea into a growing artistic community has been incredibly meaningful, and we are excited to continue expanding both our creative work and community impact in the years ahead.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like many growing arts organizations, it definitely has not been a completely smooth road. Building STYX The Company from the ground up has required balancing creativity with the realities of running a nonprofit arts organization. One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to navigate the nonprofit and grant world while still maintaining the level of artistic ambition we envisioned for the company. Funding for the arts can be incredibly competitive, and a large amount of time goes into grant writing, budgeting, fundraising, reporting, and building the infrastructure necessary to sustain a professional company.
As artists, we naturally want to spend our time creating, rehearsing, and collaborating, but behind every production there are countless administrative responsibilities that audiences never see. Producing full-scale contemporary dance works, compensating dancers, securing rehearsal and performance spaces, marketing performances, and expanding community programming all require significant financial and organizational support. There have been moments where we have had to learn things through trial and error simply because we are still a young and growing organization navigating systems that can be difficult to break into.
Another challenge has been carving out a unique artistic voice in an already saturated industry. We wanted STYX to feel different — blending contemporary dance with storytelling, theatricality, cinematic influence, and immersive world-building — while still staying authentic to who we are as artists. That process has required a lot of experimentation, persistence, and trust in our vision.
At the same time, those struggles have shaped the company into what it is today. Every challenge has pushed us to become more resourceful, collaborative, and intentional about both the art we create and the community we are building. We are still learning and evolving every season, but that continual growth has become an important part of the company’s story.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
STYX The Company specializes in contemporary dance theater that blends athletic movement, storytelling, character development, and cinematic influence into immersive live performance experiences. Our work often lives at the intersection of concert dance and theatrical world-building, allowing audiences to connect emotionally not only through movement itself, but through the narratives, relationships, and visual environments surrounding the work. In addition to performance, we also focus heavily on education and community engagement through workshops, outreach programs, and collaborations throughout South Florida and beyond.
One thing we are especially known for is creating full-scale conceptual productions that feel both physically demanding and deeply theatrical. Works such as *The Teller* and the upcoming *The Teller Returns* combine contemporary dance with detailed characters, immersive staging, and anthology-style storytelling in a way that feels more cinematic than traditional concert dance. We are also known for creating highly athletic ensemble work that pushes dancers physically while still prioritizing emotional intention and human connection.
What we are most proud of is the community we have built. From the beginning, STYX was created to provide dancers with a professional environment where they could grow artistically, collaborate meaningfully, and feel genuinely invested in the creative process. Watching dancers evolve within the company while also seeing audiences connect to contemporary dance in new ways has been incredibly rewarding.
What sets us apart is our commitment to blending multiple artistic disciplines into one cohesive experience. We approach choreography not just as movement, but as storytelling through movement, staging, atmosphere, music, and visual composition. Our work is heavily influenced by film, theater, and immersive art experiences, which allows us to create performances that feel accessible to a wide range of audiences while still maintaining the physicality and complexity of contemporary dance.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
One of the biggest pieces of advice we would give to artists who are just starting out is to stop waiting for permission to create. Some of the most important opportunities for STYX The Company came from simply deciding to make work, produce shows, collaborate with others, and build the environment we wanted to exist rather than waiting for the “perfect” moment. Growth often happens through experience, trial and error, and learning while actively doing the work.
We also think it is important to understand early on that artistry and administration often go hand in hand, especially when building something independently. When we first started, we underestimated how much time goes into fundraising, grant writing, budgeting, marketing, scheduling, and nonprofit management behind the scenes. Learning how to navigate those areas is just as important as developing your creative voice.
Another thing we wish we understood earlier is that comparison can become incredibly distracting. Every artist and organization develops at a different pace, and it is easy to feel pressure watching others succeed around you. The most important thing is staying connected to your own vision and continuing to evolve authentically rather than trying to replicate what already exists.
Most importantly, surround yourself with people who genuinely believe in the work and are willing to grow with you. Talent matters, but trust, collaboration, consistency, and community are what truly sustain long-term artistic growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zenkipro.com/styx
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/styxthecompany/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/styxthecompany/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@STYXTheCompany
