WELCOME 2023-2024 Black Futures Resident Artists
Zaccho Dance Theatre is proud to announce the 2023-2024 Black Futures Artists-in-Residence, awarded to five outstanding San Francisco and Bay Area performing artists.
The 2023-2024 Black Futures artists are:
- Ramón Ramos Alayo: Artistic Director and Co-Founder of CubaCaribe and Alayo Dance Company, Ramón Ramos Alayo is respected throughout the Bay Area as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. His work is an innovative fusion of Afro-Cuban modern, folkloric, and popular Cuban Dance. He eloquently articulates his aesthetic vision through a synthesis of these dance styles, citing traditions, movements, narratives, and concepts indicative of Cuban culture.
- Coral Martin: Coral Martin is an educator, performer, and small business owner. She has served as the school director for Berkeley Ballet Theater and has taught dance at Boston Ballet School, ODC School, Berkeley Ballet Theatre, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, among others. Coral has performed with Capacitor, Oakland Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, City Ballet of Boston, Robert Moses, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, PUSH Dance, SF Jazz Festival, SF Opera, Muriel Maffre, and has collaborated extensively with Jetta Martin. Coral holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, where she studied cultural anthropology, for which she was awarded highest honors, and is the winner of the Evon Z. Voght Prize, Artist Development Fellowship and the Shaw Traveling Fellowship.
- Jetta Grace Martin: Jetta Grace Martin earned her A.B. in Social Studies and African American Studies from Harvard University. Jetta is a dancer, performer, and choreographer who has worked nationally and internationally, and whose choreography has been presented by the Museum of the African Diaspora, Black Choreographer’s Festival, and Mark Foehringer’s Dancing in the Park, among others. Jetta is the recipient of the Cornel West Prize and the Kathryn Ann Huggins Prize, for her research on Katherine Dunham. Jetta is the co-author of Freedom: The Story of the Black Panther Party, a historical non-fiction book for young adults released in January 2022.
- Ashanti Taylor: Ashanti Hazina is an emotional wellness and movement practitioner based in San Francisco. With a rich background in movement and creative arts, she has been on a transformative journey for the past 5 years, using these practices as a pathway to self-discovery. Over the last 2 years, Ashanti has honed her focus on utilizing movement and art-making to facilitate emotional regulation and expression, particularly for emerging adults, creatives, and those seeking to connect with their emerging selves. Ashanti is actively engaged as a dancer with the Diamano Coura African Dance and Drum Company, contributing to performances celebrating culture and history. She has been honored to participate in significant events during Black History Month and their repertory showcases, having danced in all of the company's pieces. She has contributed her dance expertise and clinical knowledge as a somatic/movement and art-based practitioner at the Freedom Community Clinic, delivering art-based sessions at staff retreats and community events.
- Nekia Wright: Nekia Wright is a musician, app developer, and healing practitioner based in San Francisco who wields sound energy alongside coaching to promote relaxation and balance while developing and implementing a long term wellness plan. She produces her own sounds combining traditional instruments with custom beats. She is a California certified education specialist with over 15 years of experience teaching adults and children globally and a certified African traditional medicine practitioner through the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healer’s Association. She also offers workshops and retreats for individuals, schools, & businesses. Nekia's unique method of healing and teaching evolved from her self-healing experiences from abuse and trauma and her dedication to ending oppression.
Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to the Black Futures panelists for their participation in selecting these artists:
- Delina Brooks: Writer, producer, director, performer, and dancer; founder of DelinaDreams Productions
- Marcus Shelby: Composer, bassist, bandleader, and educator; Artistic Director of Healdsburg Jazz
- Dazaun Alvin Soleyn: Artistic Director of dazaun.dance and former Black Futures Resident Artist
The Black Futures Artist-in-Residence Program supports both emerging and diverse voices called to express the Black experience through a performing arts practice that inspires dialogue and builds community. Our goal is to support performing artists at all points of their process, giving them an opportunity to conduct in depth research without the pressure of presenting a completed work by the end of the residency.
The Black Futures Artist in Residence Program is proudly funded by the City of San Francisco’s Dream Keeper Initiative. |
