Maima, The Water Spirit explores movement as a form of communication and time travel through music.

I am known as Maima, The Water Spirit, and also Mai'yah Kau within artistic circles. As an emerging queer Liberian diasporic transcendental artist and community organizer, I find my roots deeply entwined with the rich cultural tapestry of my heritage. Raised in Aquehonga Manacknong, Lenapehoking, also known as Shaolin (Staten Island, New York) yet my heart is in the mother land. I am committed to exploring themes of identity, heritage, and spirituality through my art, bridging the gap between past and present, personal and collective. My work serves as a vessel for storytelling, a celebration of resilience, and a testament to the power of movement to transcend boundaries and connect us to something greater than ourselves.

Babou Sanneh is a first-generation Gambian-American multidisciplinary artist, producer and dancer who brings power and fluidity to choreography.

Babou Sanneh, a first-generation Gambian-American dance artist and model from the Bronx, New York, is currently captivating audiences as a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera and a model/commercial dancer with MSA. With performances by acclaimed choreographers like Martha Graham and appearances with Lyric Opera Chicago and Tribe, his talent shines both on stage and screen, including HBO’s "Random Acts of Flyness." Sanneh's journey, rooted in the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College SUNY, reflects a commitment to artistic excellence and storytelling through movement.

As Artistic Director of gaudanse, Imani Gaudin creates a collaborative space for artists while exploring how new ideas translate into dance and movement.

Imani Gaudin studied dance at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), before graduating with a BFA with honors from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY.

As the Artistic Director/Founder of Gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, she created a collaborative space for artists to provide access and education in dance and the arts. All the while, she is constantly exploring what it means to delve deep into how movement languages bring forth new ideas and translate to what we call dance.

Daniella Brito is a Dominican-American writer, curator, and artist from New York City. Trained in art history, Brito draws from visual cultural studies, queer theory, and decolonial aesthetics within their writing to document queer performance histories. Their writing has appeared in publications like The Kitchen Magazine, Hyperallergic, Contemporary And, Document Journal, Them, and elsewhere. They have written exhibition catalogs for institutions like The Studio Museum in Harlem, Harper’s Gallery, and Deli Gallery. Brito has held curatorial and programmatic roles at Art Labour Archives (Berlin), Decad (Berlin), The Knockdown Center (New York), El Museo Del Barrio (New York), and more. They have curated programs and presented work at spaces including e-flux Screening Room, The Kitchen, Fridman Gallery, Canal Projects, and NEW INC. They were the 2022-2023 LAB Research Residency Fellow at The Kitchen. https://linktr.ee/daniellabrito

Joy-Marie Thompson is a performing artist, writer, and educator from Pittsburgh, PA. As a performer, they have worked with choreographers such as Sudra Bell, Staycee Pearl, Shamel Pitts, Stephanie Batten Bland, Maxine Doyle, and Damani Pompey. They have appeared in The Mckittrick Hotel’s Sleep No More, at The Public Theater for Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s shadow/land and a.k. payne’s TIA PRAY A SOUND, The Metropolitan Opera’s El Niño, and Geoff Sobelle’s HOME. Their commercial credits include performing in music videos for Chloe Flower and The Kills. As an educator, Joy-Marie teaches improvisation and contemporary dance as an adjunct lecturer at SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance. https://linktr.ee/joymarie photo: Whitney Browne

Ashayla Byrd (she/they), supports dance communities while creating brave spaces for queer and BIPOC folks to witness and be in fellowship with one another. She serves as the Manager of Executive Affairs for the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. Prior, Ashayla served as the Presentation Administrative Assistant at Dance Place in Washington, DC. She has danced with professional artists including Tiffanie Carson, Yoshito Sakuraba, dani tirrell, and Anna María Alvarez, and she is a dance journalist with publications in Dancing in the District and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Ashayla was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia and solidified her investment in the arts at Shenandoah University (SU), graduating with a BA in both Dance & English. https://www.instagram.com/abyrdnyca/

Anh Vo is a Vietnamese dancer and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. They create dances and texts about pornography and queer relations, about being and form, about identity and abstraction, about history and its colonial reality. They receive their degrees in Performance Studies from Brown University (BA) and New York University (MA). Vo is currently a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow. https://www.anhqvo.com/