Marie Lloyd Paspe (she/her) is a Filipina-American choreographer, dance and vocal artist, educator, and writer re-rooting the brown Asian body in the liberatory practice of kapwa (Tagalog for “I and the Other are One”). Her practice re-imagines forgotten memories that are sown into the genetic manuscripts of the body’s fascial maps. She is of Batangueña and Ilonggo lineage of Philippine islands Luzon and Panay. She is a former performer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, having received a Bessie for Outstanding Choreography with the company for contributions to Deep Blue Sea (2021). She has been a Target Margin Theater Institute Fellow, GALLIM Moving Artist Resident, Asian American Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Fellow, and Creatives Rebuild New York GIA recipient. https://www.marielloydpaspe.com

STONE BELLY is a biomythographical work that re-turns the mga katawang lupa (Tagalog for “earthly bodies”) dis-membered from their homelands, back home. Taking place inside the stone-filled belly of the Philippine crocodile, the work re-myths the Philippine legends surrounding the crocodile as an ancestral vessel between this world and the next, and the bodies of land/spirit swallowed in their migration to the next life. Through this fellowship, we explored the protection of sacredness, and the invisible, tectonic labours of our ancestral mothers (of body/of earth) that have shaped our worlds.

barkha patel is a kathak dancer, choreographer, educator, collaborator, and the Artistic Director of barkha dance company (bdc) based in NYC. bdc aims to uphold the traditional lineage of kathak and mindfully create contemporary works that uncover new movement possibilities and means of storytelling within the form. barkha has performed solo and ensemble works at dance festivals in India and the U.S. Her work has had the opportunity to present at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, Little Island, and Chelsea Factory among others. barkha was a recipient of the ‘23 Juried Bessie Award. She was recently named a finalist for the National Dance Project grant with NEFA and recipient of the Princess Grace Award ‘24.

Audre Lorde’s Uses of the Erotic has given barkha words for a truth about centering pleasure in a way that was previously inexplicable but that she felt deeply. barkha saw a connection between Lorde’s words and what Goddess Kali represents: that centering pleasure is not confined explicitly to sexuality. Pleasure’s knowledge is also deeply embedded in our daily activities, in “our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.” 

Looking beyond herself, barkha searched within her lineage of female ancestors, to realize that those women too engaged with the erotic in ways they did not have words for. This has given way to tonight’s new work: Ramti Aave – Her Playful Arrival.

Set in a dreamscape, where barkha’s most hidden parts are revealed and released, she receives messages about the erotic from Goddess Kali who playfully arrives in the people around her who seem to have become different versions of her. barkha observes them, and attempts to embody them. She wonders what can expanding the erotic into and beyond the sexual do to account for women’s pleasures? Especially when our many tongues fail to give us language to speak about it.

Christopher Rivas is a Rothschild Social Impact Fellow, a Ph.d candidate for Expressive Arts for Global Health and Peace Building, and quickly becoming one of the most sought after multi-hyphenates as an actor, author, podcaster, and storyteller. His book “Brown Enough,” explores what it means to be Brown in a Black/white world. He also hosts two podcasts: Brown Enough, which explores the parallel themes of his book through interview-style episodes; and Rubirosa, a 10-episode documentary-style investigation of Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican diplomat, race car driver, soldier and polo player who was the inspiration for ‘James Bond’. On screen, Rivas is known for his work on the Fox series, Call Me Kat, opposite Mayim Bialik, Leslie Jordan, Kyla Pratt and Cheyenne Jackson. His latest book, “You’re A Good Swimmer,” is an enchanting exploration of the journey of conception without gendered terms and inclusive of all family dynamics. If you’ve been born you’ve already won the biggest race of your life. Visit his website www.christopherrivas.com Instagram: @christopher__rivas

How To Get Free

This immersive three-act experience by Christopher Rivas confronts the human condition, revealing how our contemporary life bears striking parallels to the enduring curses of Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Narcissus. Exploring the chaos of a memory you can’t let go of, capitalism’s relentless drive for “more,” and the self-entrapment of our social algorithms, Rivas delves into these ancient myths as mirrors of our modern struggles. Can these timeless stories offer a path to liberation from the madness of modern life? *Tonight you will be watching Act II – Tantalus

Marie Thomas is a published writer, independent producer, and director. As a modern-day Renaissance woman, Thomas has shown her original theater production, The Noir Door, in Denver and New York City, having sold out in both cities. She has appeared in New York Magazine’s ‘The Cut’ podcast and CNN’s Head Line News as an advocate of women’s rights and against sexual abuse. Marie produced her first Short Film in June 2024. She is a Black and Chicanisma woman from Denver, Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from Spelman College. While she has written, produced and directed projects for others, her work often mirrors her persona. Her contemporary style, use of humor, and otherwise bold and playful aesthetic can be found in her creations and brand. Her personal artistic ethos centers cultural awareness through Afro-surrealism, ancestral thought, and magical realism.

Thomas’s one-act play, ‘Forgiveness: A Life Line,’ was inspired by her relationship with her Father. In this piece, the main character, Mona, a high-achieving District Attorney, is unexpectedly forced to make a tough decision; Does she keep her estranged comatose Father on life support or pull the plug?

Alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins burst onto the musical scene in 2020 with the release of his Blue Note recording debut, Omega. Although just 22 at the time of its release, his quartet had already been together for years and their musicality is reflected in both the maturity of Wilkins’ sound and the sophistication and depth of his compositions. Accolades soon followed, including Omega being named the best new jazz release of 2020 by The New York Times and the best debut jazz album by NPR. In 2022, Wilkins released his sophomore album on Blue Note, The 7th Hand. Like his debut, The 7th Hand topped year-end lists including Jazzwise, NPR, The New York Times, and The Financial Times. 2022 also opened up new touring opportunities. His quartet has toured throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and South America. In 2023, Wilkins was awarded with three Downbeat Critics Poll Awards: Best Alto Saxophonist, Best Rising Star Composer and Best Rising Star Group. Wilkins has a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies from the Juilliard School.

ANTHEM is a work written for a trio of performers: percussion and wind. It examines regality as design and the power of sound to disrupt. ANTHEM is about performance as a set of conditions and improvisation or abstraction as a means of mining history carefully. The piece thinks through instruments as form or as a score that can be read using proximity, spatiality, and movement.