Alice in Rainbowland

Nadia Issa (they/them/theirs) is a second-year Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity School, focusing on the African and African American Religious Studies Area of Focus, graduating in 2022. At HDS, they continue their work on Spiritual Reparations in Regla de Ocha-Ifá, Candomblé, and other Black Caribbean Diasporic spiritual-religious traditions, and continuing research on Black Cuban Womxn Akpwón/Apwanlás. Nadia spent over three years in Cuba and México pursuing fieldwork and dance study for both research projects that take form as Auto-Ethnographies and dance choreographies expanding reparation politics and politics of being an Akpwón in Cuba and its diaspora. Nadia is a Company Dancer with Jean Appolon Expressions. Nadia recognizes that dance is an embodied tool of ritual and revolution in their research and training. Through dance and ethnographic research, Nadia has been able to navigate and communicate spirit, Blackness, queerness, environmental and religious racism, and sacred landscapes.

Lilly Rose Valore (she/her/hers) is a Dancer/Model/Trans Activist from Boston, MA. She is a Program Assistant at Futures Without Violence, which is a non-profit organization working to end domestic violence for women and children. Her work for Black Trans Lives has led her to become an artist/activist. Lilly has always had an interest in developing the lives of marginalized groups specifically within the city of Boston and often speaks on LGBTQ+ awareness panels, teaches vogue classes and history, and performs at LGBTQ fundraising events. Lilly weaves queer symbolism into her art and has been telling her story through photo, film, and dance in order to use her social media platforms as a way to reach out to a wider demographic. She touches on topics such as racial injustices, uplifting marginalized groups, and representation for Trans Women of Color.

Tina Cavicchio or T (she/her/they/them) is an international dance artist and founder/director of Next Level Fusion Dance Company. T got her start early in life, training in jazz and ballroom. She continued her studies into the Latin dance community with salsa and bachata as well as contemporary, Afro-Cuban, ballet, waacking, and hip hop. T is known for her creative fusion choreography and inspiring story telling through her dance. As a queer female lead, follow, and solo dancer, T has become a major advocate for individual empowerment and expression. T’s goals as a teacher is to challenge her students to walk through fear, helping them to tell their story on stage, and to empower others along the way. Each day inspires her to push the limits of Latin dance in her choreography while also paying respects to the history and roots of those dances.

Gabriel (he/him/his) is proud to identify as a gay, Puerto Rican, dog dad who loves to dance, cook, and enjoy adventures with loved ones. Graduating from Northeastern University in 2014, he has worked for Boston Beer Company for over 8 years. Throughout his time in Boston, Gabriel has been an active member and leader in the Boston Dance Community. Gabriel has had the opportunity to dance with and choreograph for many dance teams, but his favorite had to be QWAM, an all-male dance family in support of promoting inclusivity and self-empowerment in one’s own identity. He co-founded QWAM in 2016 and has led the group’s growth for the past five years.

Yyoyo Escada (she/her/hers) is a member of the House of Escada, or Iconic House of Escada, a ballroom house based in Boston, originally known as the House of Evangelista and founded by father Tony Escada. House of Escada appeared in the first season of the HBO Max original reality-competition series “Legendary,” taking home third place. In order to be in the House of Escada, members explain you must be able to bear the weight of a crown.

Mori Granot-Sanchez (she/her/hers), based in Rhode Island, is the founder and director of Rhode Island Latin Dance, a dance school she started in 2012. In 2017 she launched her professional dance team, RILD-Synergy. Through her community work, Mori teaches weekly salsa classes at the Brown University Salsa Club and directs their performance team Alma Salsera. She also runs various after school dance programs and art credit-eligible dance classes for inner-city youth in high schools throughout the state. Mori began dancing at the age of five in Haifa, Israel, delving into Israeli folk, jazz, modern, and ballet. She began dancing salsa at age seventeen. Her travels led her to the US in 2006, where she would later pursue her love of salsa and embark on her professional dance career. Mori focuses on salsa as a teaching tool for self-development and to further inclusivity.

Zayra Pola (she/her/hers) is a Puerto Rican American singer and percussionist. She was named “Pola” by a professor in honor of her grandfather Polo Ocasio, a well known folkloric Puerto Rican guitar player. Labeled by fans as “La Reina del Timbal” (The Queen of Timbales) since her outstanding performance in the 2009 Salsa Festival Honoring a La Fania, Zayra graduated with a full scholarship and Dean’s List recognition from Berklee College of Music. She received the 2015 Best Timbales Player of the Year Award from the New England Salsa Music Awards and the 2017 Salsa Singer of the Year Award from Latin Boston USA. In 2016, Zayra launched 3NITY, the first female Latin music band in the Boston area, which strives to empower female talent in a male-dominated industry. She has released two singles and is currently producing her first album, scheduled for release May 2022.

“SaSí” Marcelino, is a multi-discipline performing artist and educator with a passion for investigation. Born in the Caribbean, raised in Boston, SaSí brings an innovative lens to her artistic perspective. SaSí draws from her experience and evolution as a daughter of the Afro-Indigenous Diaspora. With over twenty-five years of performance experience, SaSí tours as an actress, vocalist, dancer, and percussionist.

From El Salvador via Cambridge, MA, it’s Just JP! They use any pronouns, please mix them up! He appreciates it. They love makeup, editing videos, fighting oppression, and eating pupusas. Just JP was the winner of the first cycle of Worcester Drag Wars in 2018, and since then she has been a staple in the New England drag scene. She has performed on the stages of Boston Pride, Worcester Pride, NOHO Pride, and Providence Pride, as well as weekly in-person shows (pre-covid), and currently producing tons of digital content through twitch.tv/TheServeNetwork. Their monthly show “First Impression” is every second Friday at 8PM ET. They are the Assistant Producer of “Full Spin”, every second and fourth Tuesdays at twitch.tv/MajentaWithAJ. Follow Just JP on all social media at @dragqueenjp.

Ana Masacote (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Afro-Latin dance specialist and arts leader who passionately believes that through dance, we can facilitate social change within communities. She has spread the salsa bug to more than 30 countries across five continents as founder of Dance to Power, an online Afro-Latin dance academy, and former partner of internationally-renowned Masacote Entertainment. Through her social impact initiatives, Ana advocates for gender and LGBTQ inclusivity and racial equity in the arts and was most recently named a 2020/21 Kennedy Citizens Fellow, the 2019 YWCA Cambridge Woman of the Year, and a 2019 WBUR Artery 25 honoree. Ana holds a Bachelor’s in Management Science from MIT in Cambridge.