Bios

Tonya Pennie believes in the power of dance to unite community, heal historical trauma, and raise body as voice to a transcendent communal artform....

Graduate of Universidad Nacional Costa Rica, UNA. Class of 2015 · Danza · Heredia, Costa Rica. Bailarina. Contemporary Dance. Artista. Performer. Teacher. Director, professor...

Chantell Moody is a singer, dancer, artist, activist, and performer currently residing in Austin, TX. She began dancing in her youth at Tanya Ogden’s...

Jamie Vallejo is a native of Houston, TX and has been studying various styles of dance for 25 years. Growing up as a competitive performer,...

Illinois native, Hope Folarin, was formally introduced to dance in adolescence when her mother forced her to take ballet lessons to improve her posture....

Semente is an artist, scholar, capoerista originally from São Paulo, Brazil. Semente focuses on making multi-medium and multimedia art that (re)presents, reflects and resonates...

Brandon Grant first started learning West African drumming in late 2009 at Youth Villages campus in Douglasville, Georgia. Under the tutelage of Youth Villages...

Owen Towles has been a percussionist for over 15 years. He has spent time learning rhythms from two different continents, having traveled to Brazil,...

Dave White has been playing percussion for over 25 years, and West African percussion since 2000. He has studied with numerous West African drummers...

Noah Mosgofian has been drumming for over 20 years. His performance career includes 6 years of touring with the international percussion sensation STOMP, and...

Born in South Texas, Rudy started drumming at a very young age. His musical studies started with rhythm guitar and eventually latin. Studying the...

t. negresco lyles/gbeda is an innovative multicultural world percussionist whose musical background is rooted in African, Latin American, and Middle Eastern traditional rhythms. Her...

A native of Ghana, West Africa, Gidi Agbeko began learning traditional music and dance styles of his village before he was old enough to...