2026 Black History, Future Folk Symposium Info & Schedule
Symposium Speakers and Artists
Dunham and the Diaspora
Heather Beal
Heather Beal is a dancer, choreographer, actress, director, curator, and educator who received her B.A. in dance from Columbia College Chicago, her MFA in Dance from Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently a PhD student in Dance at The Ohio State University. She began her dance training at the Katherine Dunham Museum Children’s Workshop in East Saint Louis, Il under the direction of Master Certified Dunham Technique Instructor, Ruby Streate. Heather is a certified Dunham Technique Instructor who has trained in Dunham Technique for over 35 years, who has toured nationally and internationally performing and teaching Dunham technique. She has performed in many productions at The Black Rep and several productions at the St. Louis MUNY. Some of her favorites are Tell Me Something Good, Guys and Dolls, Dreamgirls, Once on This Island, and The Wiz. She has choreographed Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea (Nebraska Rep), Feeding Beatrice (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Ragtime (American Stage), The Wash (The Black Rep), The Color Purple (Geva Theater and Kansas City Repertory Theatre) and The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body. She is best known for her work #triggerwarning and Black AF, a dance critique of police brutality against Black folx in America. She won the St. Louis Theatre Circle Award for best choreography for Eubie! at The Black Rep in 2024 and received the 2024 St. Louis Visionary Award for Outstanding Working Artist.
Keynote Address Abstract
Dancer Possessed: Investigating the Use of Ritual and Magic in Katherine Dunham’s Shango
Dunham’s use of ritual and magical practice in her choreography, Shango, acts as an entry point to explore the use of spirit possession as a vehicle for Black liberation. Scholars such as Yvonne Daniel, Katherine Dunham, and Halifu Osumare have defined Dunham’s “research-to-performance” method as a way to introduce her dancers to ritual, spirit possession, and the trance state. I argue that through these embodied mystical experiences of a spiritual possession, her dancers procure access to the “third dimension,” radically imagining new corporeal possibilities. Borrowing the theory of the “third dimension” from critical dance studies scholar Irvin Gonzalez's article, “The Politics of Popular Movements”. I use Gonzalez’s use of “the break” as a way to “imagine new possibilities by enacting a process where brown bodies touch upon a third space of belonging”. Using the “third dimension” as a lens, I contend that Dunham’s choreography, Shango, developed into its own unique ritual, and is a method of ancestral technology acting as a portal to access ancestral wisdom, harness spiritual power, reimagine Black freedom, and as a survival tool for Black resistance, using my own embodied sensorial experience as evidence. In other words, Dunham’s Shango is not a reenactment of any cultural or spiritual religious ceremony; it is its own ritual created as a portal for Black freedom. In this way, the acts of subversion materialized and initiated in Dunham’s Shango continue to ripple and remain an efficacious force embedded and practiced in Dunham technique today.
Keywords: Katherine Dunham, Ancestral Technology, Shango, Spiritual Possession
Hope Houston
Hope Houston (she/they) is an archivist, artist, creator and community builder. She was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. In the fall of 2025, she began her graduate studies at Dominican University in the Masters of Library Information Science Program on the Archives and Cultural Heritage Preservation certification track. In spring of 2025, Houston was awarded the Spectrum Scholarship Award from the American Library Association and the Mosaic Scholarship by the Society of American Archivists. Since June 2021, she has worked with the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, starting as an intern then promoted Program Manager in November 2023. Houston manages CBDLP’s Archival Pillar, developing collections of Black Dance Organizations and leading oral history series of various Black Dance leaders in the Chicago area. June of 2023, they graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor’s of Art in History with honors and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies with honors, focusing on 19th-20th Century African American Cultural History and Archiving. During her undergraduate career, she was a founding member and Production Manager of Kinda Sorta Brown, an award winning podcast. Kinda Sorta Brown, founded in 2020. was recognized as one of the top ten college podcasts of 2021 and it won the “Spotify: The Next Wave” international student podcast competition in 2021. She published a creative writing piece with the Performance Response Journal in 2021 titled “A Dance Score” and published a piece with UChicago Arts about the deep connection of Katherine Dunham’s Legacy in the larger conversation of documenting Black Dance.
In her scholarship and research, she explores the ways histories of marginalized people are documented through various mediums: archiving, podcasting, and movement. Her B.A thesis, “Learning to Forget: Plantation Tourism, Reckoning with Slavery, Continuing Dilemmas of Racial Responsibility in the United States explored the discussion of racial responsibility in determining how to deconstruct the mythical narratives of slavery that exist in its afterlife through examining the modern-day plantation. In her work, she prioritizes the voices of marginalized people to ensure their history is documented from and through their perspectives. Hope began exploring archives, and how to create accessible archives, through her work with the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project by connecting with external library institutions and dance companies. Her archival practice is rooted in reparative archiving philosophy, centering the experiences of historically marginalized communities through care and reparative intentions. Outside of her work, Hope is passionate about cooking, spending time with friends and family, and traveling to new places.
Ruby Streate
Ruby Streate is a dancer, choreographer and historian who has been a member of the Dunham Legacy since 1969. She is currently the Director of Dance at the Katherine Dunham Center for the Arts and Humanities (KDCA). Prior to her position at KDCAH, she served as Cultural Arts Manager at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center. Miss Streate has been a consistent student of the Dunham Legacy for 42 years.
Her career with Miss Dunham began under the tutelage of Dunham Company members; Ural Wilson and Lenwood Morris. Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern and Ethnic (Haitian, Senegalese, Brazilian and Cuban) Dance genres were included in her studies at Miss Dunham's Performing Arts Training Center. Passionate about Dunham Technique, she concentrated her studies on every facet of the Dunham legend. Miss Dunham, thoroughly impressed with her expertise, appointed Miss Streate a Master Instructor in Dunham Technique and Repository of Dunham Choreography.
Dunham as an Archivist Keynote Conversation Abstract:
Ms. Katherine Dunham is known for her technique, her travels, and time as an anthropologist. We are going to be shifting the lens to dive deeper into learning about Ms. Dunham as an archivist, preservationist, and a teller of history. Hope Houston and Ms. Ruby Streate will be in conversation about Dunham’s travel, her documentation process, the status of her archives and the importance of creating and learning history through connection and community.
Stacy “Jukeboxx” Letrice
Stacy “Jukeboxx” Letrice is a dancer, choreographer, instructor, mas band leader, and dance/movement therapist with over 20 years of local and global experience . She considers herself a medicine woman of movement who uses African and Caribbean dance forms as healing tools to maintain her happiness and follow her dreams. Like a jukebox, Stacy Letrice’s repertoire and expertise are diverse, wide-ranging, and seemingly without limit. Dance runs deep for Stacy Letrice and is where she feels most at peace and most at home. The Chicago native began her dance journey at the age of eight after seeing an annual energetic celebration of African and African American dance called, Dance Africa. She first studied African Dance at Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago’s children classes, which were led by Vaune Blalock. She later continued her journey under the direction of Danny Diallo Hinds at Sundance Productions. Sundance developed her dance background by providing her with training in African drumming, ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, Dunham, Caribbean, and West African dance.
Daniel Désir
Daniel Désir, a native of Haiti, is an accomplished and inspired dancer, choreographer. His research interests include culture and education. He holds an elementary teaching education from Ecole Normale De Martissant and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from National Louis University.
His journey through dance started in 1986 on the island of Haiti where he mastered Haitian traditional folk dances and learned to incorporate this style with contemporary and modern styles. Daniel dancing, teaching and choreographing experience includes the Grand Ballet Folklorique (GBF) Tamboula d’Haiti, the Haitian American Contemporary Dance Theatre, the Alixanon Dance Company, the Lynn Williams Rouzier Academy of Dance, the Ballet Folklorique d’Haiti (BFH), the Harambee Dance Ensemble at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL, the Ayizan Kréyòl, a Haitian dance troop in Miami FL., the West Indian Folk Dance Company (WIFD) in Chicago, Najwa Dance Corps, and Hedwig Dances.
Daniel considers dance as “a gift of God and it must be executed to honor who has created it. This fusion of the body and soul allows the ability to attain mental and moral stability through discipline and also to develop the expression of beauty and creativity. Dancing is not only a way to entertain the audience or a way to help them escape their constraints and disappointments; but to help understand the universal events of life.” His works are an unpredictable fusion of ethnic dance disciplines, modern and contemporary blended with traditional Haitian folk dances and rhythms, accentuated by religious symbolism. This unique form of dance mesmerizes dance professionals and audiences alike.
Tamboula Ethnic Dance Company
Tamboula, a professional Afro-Haitian dance company provides intercultural experiences for people throughout the United States and beyond. This company brings a new style to the dance world of Chicago. In addition to traditional Haitian dances such as Yanvalou, Kongo, Nago, Ibo, Dahomey and Mayi, the company incorporates contemporary jazz and ballet technique in its repertoire. Founded in 2000 by artistic director, dancer, choreographer, Mr. Daniel Desir, the Chicago based dance company has been celebrating the dance and culture of Haiti since its founding. Drawing largely from sacred traditions, Tamboula's lively presentations unmask stereotypes while entertaining audiences and keeping the magic alive. The company's two main objectives are: To preserve and promote Haiti's dance heritage by creating and presenting professional choreographic works, built on Haitian, Afro-Haitian, and African traditions. To establish cultural exchanges among all ethnic groups, by celebrating and educating them of Haiti's rich culture and the influence of African culture to the Americas and the world. Tamboula achieves these objectives by its creation and presentation of educational, cultural and recreational events. Specifically, the company conducts workshops, lectures, and performs new works in concerts and festivals to reach the greater dance community. The founding of Tamboula was exactly what was needed to add to the rich cultural diversity of Chicago.
Windy City Ramblers
Windy City Ramblers is a Chicago-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to the development of brass band and second line culture through education and performance. The Windy City Ramblers build on the musical legacy and festive spirit of the New Orleans brass band and second line culture while embracing the rich musical history of Chicago. The Ramblers are led by trumpeter and composer Mario Abney.
Ysaÿe Alma
Ysaÿe Alma is a dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist originally from Chicago and now living in Los Angeles. She has performed with a range of professional dance companies and recently served as Rehearsal Director for the touring production of The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. Ysaÿe graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Philosophy. She also studied dance at Taipei National University of the Arts and performed in work by Ming-Lung Yang. Her choreography has been featured in productions for Teatro Luna (now Studio Luna), Greenway Court Theater, DePaul University, Free Street Theater, and other venues and festivals. For over ten years, Ysaÿe has taught dance to students of all ages and skill levels. She is a passionate learner and recently completed her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification and Social-Emotional Learning Teacher Certification. Ysaÿe is currently a third year Dunham Technique Instructor candidate.
Amansu Eason
Amansu Eason is a dancer, choreographer and teacher of African/Diaspora dance. He is a certified instructor in the Katherine Dunham Technique and offers classes in West African, Afro Caribbean as well as his exploration of “Afro Grooves.” Eason serves on the technique committee for the Institute for Dunham Certification. He was the guest instructor for Edna Manley School of Dance summer intensive in Kingston, Jamaica and was invited to give a dance workshop series at the direct request of the Ga’ aton Kibbutz dance commune in Israel. Eason began training at an early age in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and musical theater. He also received extensive training in West African folklore and after high school began touring with Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago, the oldest traditional African Dance Company in the US. In the 18 years he performed with Muntu, Eason was lead dancer, rehearsal director, assistant artistic director and choreographer. His tribute to Michael Jackson won two Black Excellence Awards for Best Choreography in Chicago. Amansu has performed with and opened for pop artists Ben Harper, Omarion and Mary Mary, and has been a soloist for Chris Walker and a guest artist with Kashe Dance Company.
Keishonda Simms
Keishonda Simms is a powerhouse of rhythm and grade. Keishonda has rigorously trained in Ghana and Jamaica, Chicago with Dill Costa, Brazilian Dance Master, and Alfred Baker, Director of the West Indian Dance Theatre Company, and I’Naru, Chicago’s first all female Bomba company. She has worked with various ages of dance students and programs such as the Joffrey Ballet's Middle School Dance Program, Columbia College's Center for Community Arts Partnerships, the Beverly Arts Center, and as the Dance Director at Evanston Escola de Samba. Keishonda loves to help her students use dance, movement, and expression to find their way to a better self. She is the Founder of MANIFEST! a group dedicated to youth empowerment through dance and performance. Keishonda is a 2020-2021 Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching recipient. This year is Keishonda's 10th year as a Zumba certified Instructor.
Sadira Muhammad
Sadira Muhammad is a Chicago-based dance artist and arts educator whose work bridges Afro-cultural dance traditions with modern dance practice. Grounded in community, her teaching integrates history, literature, and movement to create accessible, student-centered learning environments that uplift voice, identity, and creative expression. With over four years of experience in arts education, she combines curriculum development, coaching, and data-informed strategies to foster creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence in her students.
She currently serves as an Arts Educator Specialist and Dance Instructor at Art in Motion Creative Arts School, where she designs and implements innovative curriculum that empowers youth through the arts. Drawing on her deep knowledge of Afro-Diasporic dance, Sadira emphasizes values such as resilience, reverence, cooperation, and leadership, aligning her work with social-emotional learning and community engagement goals. Her impact extends across Chicago Public Schools, where she has also developed a traveling elementary school dance troupe.
Sadira’s artistic and academic background includes training at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, as well as study with African and Caribbean artists through Dance Africa Chicago and Muntu Dance Theatre. She has trained in Horton and Graham techniques at the Joseph Holmes School (now Deeply Rooted Dance Theater) and has performed nationally and internationally. A long-standing principal performer and Assistant Artistic Director of the West Indian Folk Dance Company, she also serves as Adjunct Faculty of Dance at Governors State University and a guest lecturer at Columbia College Chicago. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Dramatic Interpretation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Donald Dorcilus
Donald Dorcilus, a native of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, is a master drummer, singer, and choreographer who has shared his love of roots music with audiences in Mexico, Germany, and the United States. Donald shares his love of rara and other traditional rhythms of Haiti to educate and entertain audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Donald has performed with Tamboula Ethnic Dance Company, Tchaka: Roots of Haiti, West Indian Folk Dance Company, Najwa Dance Corp and many more.
Lauren Brooks
Born and raised in Chicago, Lauren Brooks is committed to community wellness and liberation. Her life’s work is rooted at the intersection of Black creative arts, financial literacy, and spirituality.
As a Black American and Puerto Rican woman, she has performed, taught, and served communities globally through Bomba for over 32 years. Lauren has been a member of Chicago-based groups Grupo Yubá, Bomba con Buya, and Las Bompleneras.
As dancer, singer, and songwriter with a background in psychology, she has had the privilege of serving as a teaching artist at Music Moves Chicago for the last three years, where she is helping build a thriving Bomba community on the South Side of Chicago.
She is a founding member and co-director of Los Médicos, a collective dedicated to healing and strengthening community through Bomba.
Ayinde Jean-Baptiste
Ayinde Jean-Baptiste is a keeper of memory and systems thinker, who occasionally commits acts of journalism. An organizer turned strategist, he uses voice to shift culture, engaging with communities through listening, memory-making, and movement.
Jennifer Ligaya
Jennifer Ligaya Senecal is an AfroPinay sound, movement, installation, film, and performance practitioner born and raised in Chicago. Ligaya’s practice unfolds through site-specific activations, collaborative rituals, and experimental performance. A sponsored artist, grant recipient, and commissioned multimedia artist, her original work includes solo and collaborative performance compositions and sound installations that amplify critical liberatory practices, ancestral indigenous knowledge systems, and communal wellbeing, through the weaving of traditional and contemporary sound, performance, and personal ancestral folk arts practices. She is a core member of Honey Pot Performance where she serves the roles of Artist and Education Coordinator supporting the development of the Creative Design Lab, and the founder of SaltWater Road Performance Institute, a Black Diasporic woman artist-run performance company that creates site responsive performances through annual artist residencies that explores justice through embodied research in the American South. Her creative practice explores indigenous healing and survival practices, and genealogies of anti-colonial spiritual-political resistance. Ligaya is a PhD candidate in Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where her scholarship and artistry converge to develop experimental embodied methods for social change through womanist spiritual political Southernist ways of knowing.
Ayesha Jaco
Ayesha Jaco is a Chicago based Change-maker, CEO and Choreographer. Ayesha’s disciplinary focus is a fusion of contemporary Modern, Jazz, West African and Hip Hop dance.
Ayesha’s commitment to Arts in Youth & Community Development has led her to curate artist residencies with the Stony Island Arts Bank, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago Park District, Jacob Carruthers for Inner City Studies and the American Rhythm Center & more.
Ayesha is a 2018 Chicago Dancemakers Lab Artist. She has also received fellowships from Rebuild Foundation & multiple awards honoring her artistic & community endeavors: including the 2020 Helen Coburn Meier & Tim Meier Achievement Award, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Community Leader Award & the Crain’s Chicago Notable Black Leader Award.
Nikki Noland
Nicole (Nikki) Noland is an accomplished performer and dance instructor with over 20 years’ experience in African derived techniques, modern and jazz. She has extensive training in West African,Dunham, Haitian, Afro Cuban and contemporary dance, including professional study in Nigeria, Brazil and Cuba. As a member of Muntu Dance Theatre, Tamboula Ethnic Dance Company and an independent artist, Nikki has performed at major theatres and festivals; across the country and abroad in Nigeria and India to name a few. Nikki is also an experienced teacher. She has worked with adults and youth- through Chicago Public Schools, YMCA and AfterSchool Matters, providing dance education and performance opportunities to students grades K-12. As a movement artist and instructor, Ms Noland is a grateful participant and contributor to the legacy of diasporic dance.
Joshlean Fair
Joshlean Fair is a Chicago native and has been a samba student and dancer for 7 years with Dill Costa at The Old Town School of Folk Music. Joshlean’s foundation in percussion, with 10 years of technical training, instilled an early and deep appreciation for music and the performing arts. Joshlean has also had the privilege to study and perform in Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval over the span of 5 years. As samba instructor with RISE Training Academy on Chicago’s south side, Joshlean blends her technical training with the spirit of community that is vital to her interpretation and style of samba instruction. Her hopes are to continue to study, teach, and honor the art of samba and share this dance form across Chicago and beyond. Joshlean currently works in Chicago in Rheumatological clinical research and performs under the Dill Costa Dance Group throughout Chicago.
Tiffany Mondy
Tiffany Mondy is a dance enthusiast, enjoying movement and rhythm of the African diaspora. Tiffany has also danced with various dance companies throughout Chicago, including Tamboula Ethnic Dance Company, Muntu Dance Theater, the West Indian Folk Dance Company, and Irè Elese Abure.
