niv Acosta
niv Acosta is a Brooklyn-based artist born and raised in Washington Heights Manhattan. niv is 26 years old, Dominican and transgender. He trained at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. niv has attended California Institute of the Arts for 2 years where he studied dance technique and choreography. He also attended American Dance Festival for the summers of 2007 and 2008. niv has presented his work at various events/spaces including The Sharon Disney Lund Theater at CalArts, Pieter Performance Space and Human Resources in Los Angeles, The Community Education Center in Philadelphia, at New York Live Arts for the world premiere of i shot denzel, through AUNTS at The New Museum, The Tank, Danspace Project in Manhattan, Brooklyn Arts Exchange and Center For Performance Research in Brooklyn and MOMA Ps1 in Queens. Thanks to the Leeway Foundation, niv was also awarded an Art and Social Change Grant where he performed for gender<moving: queer bodies/home with collaborators Iele Paloumpis and Jai Arun Ravine at Studio34 Yoga | Healing | Arts in Philadelphia (2010). He is working on projects with Vanessa Anspaugh: we were an island, and Ralph Lemon: An All Day Event. The End at Danspace Project at St. Marks Church on the Bowery, Larissa Velez-Jackson: Star Crap In Progress at CPR, Ishmael Houston-Jones in Eyes, Mouth, and All the Rest: Surrendering to the Desire of Others in Dancer Crush at New York Live Arts, Hilary Clark’s Studio Series at NYLA, iele paloumpis’ Give It, Take It and you’re on your own, Philadelphia Dance Projects, and Deborah Hay for a project at MoMA; fall of 2012.

Stephanie Battle
Stephanie Battle is a yoga teacher, student, dancer, singer and songwriter, and generally a lover of all things creative! She received her BFA in Dance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1992. Originally from West Orange, NJ she now resides in Brooklyn, NY and teaches yoga throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Stephanie began practicing yoga at the Integral Yoga Institute after injuring her back in a Broadway show in 2001. Treated for scoliosis and wearing a back brace for 8 years during childhood, yoga was a way to increase core strength and flexibility. But she soon became enchanted by the principles of yoga, mindfulness practices and breath work and wanted to share the whole experience of yoga with her community. Stephanie earned her 200 hour certification in the spring of 2010 from Yoga to the People and is currently working towards her 500 hour certification at Sonic Yoga in Manhattan. She received her Children’s Yoga certification from Radiant Child Yoga with Shakta Kalsa and has taught her own special brand of yoga, incorporating creative movement, song and play to kids with special needs through NJ’s Board of Education. Ms. Battle is the Director of Teacher Training at Sacred Studio Brooklyn and considers Sacred Studio her spiritual home! She also teaches privately, and under the umbrella of Pilates Shop Yoga Garage in Manhattan. Her classes are rooted in the Vinyasa style with a strong emphasis on alignment and breath awareness, but infused with mudras, mantra, meditation, creativity and self expression. She is most interested in exploring the harmony of opposites, creating balance in the body-mind and spirit.
For more information, visit stephaniebattleyoga.com

Malik Bellamy
Malik K. Bellamy attended Helma Institute of Massage Therapy, and received his Professional Massage Therapist Certificate 2006. His mother, Suzanne Bellamy, is a former member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Julia Bennett
Julia Bennett is a Board certified licensed acupuncturist trained in both Chinese and Japanese acupuncture. She has also completed extensive studies in Chinese herbal medicine and Native American herbal medicine. Julia’s particular passion is community health and the health concerns of women with particular emphasis on working with women who have tested positive for HIV and AIDS. Julia ardently believes that the health challenges of our humanity must address wellness as a birthright. Through the process of self-actualization, communities are able to access their potential for transformation, make informed health care choices, and become well. With the use of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and the divine healing of compassionate touch, Julia stands as a committed vessel for the manifestation of wellness for all.

Mona Chopra
Mona Chopra, MA, MS, L.Ac., is a New York state licensed and nationally board certified (NCCAOM) acupuncturist, certified hypnotist, and therapeutic yoga and meditation instructor, who has been immersed in the fields of mind-body medicine for over a decade. Mona is grateful to all her teachers; in the myriad forms they appear, including her patients, including the trees, oceans, rivers and streams. Mona continues to be awed by the infinite capacity of the spirit to heal.
For more information, visit: peopletreewellness.com

Aimee Cox
Aimee Cox trained on scholarship with the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (CCM) and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and is also a certified Stott Pilates Advanced Mat instructor. Her professional dance experience includes performing and leading master classes as a member of Ailey II. She is currently a tenured professor at Fordham University teaching courses in the Department of African and African Studies and Anthropology.
For more information, visit: aimeemeredithcox.com

Kami Jones
Kami Jones is a certified yoga instructor trained at Corepower Yoga in 2010. A professional dancer and actress, Jones has also studied Capoeira and Samba in Salvador, Bahia where she focused her master’s thesis in Anthropology on colorism. In Addition, she studied dance under scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Kami was the host of “Operation Junkyard” which was nominated for a 2004 Daytime Emmy. She was also a dancer on Mariah Carey’s 2003 Charmbracelet Tour. Jones is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and Columbia University. Kami is currently working on her PhD in Human Development at the University of Chicago.
For more information, visit: IMDB.com and reverbnation.com/kamijones

Ancient Song Doula Services – Chanel Porchia
Chanel Porchia founded Ancient Song Doula Services in the fall of 2008 after experiencing the birth of her first child at home. Ancient Song Doula Services’ mission is to offer all women quality doula care, regardless of their socio-economic status, and to empower young mothers to make healthy choices in their lives. Ancient Song is committed to reducing infant mortality by changing the way mothers view birthing, advocating on behalf of all mothers, and challenging the current healthcare system’s quality of care. Ancient Song also offers many trainings, for which Chanel is a co-trainer. She is the mother of four children under the age of five years old. Chanel is also an activist, certified labor & postpartum doula, certified lactation counselor, midwifery assistant and student, and vegan chef. She is also a certified holistic health counselor specializing in high-risk mothers, multiples, and survivors of sexual trauma and domestic violence.

Housing Works
Housing Works is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts. Housing Works is a grassroots organization committed to the use of non-violent civil disobedience in order to further our mission to end AIDS and homelessness. Since 1990, we have provided a comprehensive array of services to more than 20,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. We believe that providing stable housing is healthcare and is the first step toward living a long and healthy life. Supportive services include but are not limited to housing, healthcare, meals and nutritional counseling, mental health and substance use treatment, job training, and legal assistance. Housing Works pioneered the concept of social enterprise–businesses whose profits fund the mission of a parent not-for-profit organization. This self-sustaining model provides employment opportunities to the community in addition to fundraising. Our acclaimed Housing Works Thrift Shops, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe and The Works Catering account for approximately 25 percent of our $43 million annual operating budget.

Joy Mitchell
Joy Mitchell (RN, MSN, MPA, BSN, BS) is a healthcare professional with over 26 years of hospital leadership experience. She is currently the Director of Nursing in the Emergency Department at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and has previously worked at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, North General Hospital and Cabrini Medical Center. Over the course of her career, she has consistently worked to improve the performance level and organization of the nursing system by working with the department on such initiatives as the Patient-Focused care model and the redesign of the ambulatory care center. She holds degrees in Nursing Science and Hospital Administration from Chamberlain College of Nursing, Long Island University, and St. Joseph’s College.

Karen Rose
Authentic, knowledgeable, open and welcoming, Karen M. Rose is trained in Eastern and Western herbal medicine and is personally dedicated to empowering individuals to make informed decisions with regards to their health and lives. She created Sacred Vibes Healing and the Sacred Vibes Apothecary in 2002, a Brooklyn-based, community herbal apothecary, Karen is connected to both the earth and the community in which she practices, consults and teaches herbal medicine. Her dedication to the earth, spirit, service, community and our individual divinity make Sacred Vibes Healing and its products truly unique! A teacher and a healer, Karen has helped thousands of individuals to live an abundant life filled with inspiration. Karen has been recently featured on FYI TV’s new show “The FEED.” The New York Times, Black Enterprise Magazine, New York Daily News, and countless other publications have featured Karen’s work. She has authored articles on the benefits and simplicity of utilizing herbal medicine to nourish the mind, body and spirit. In 2013, Karen launched her eponymous new herbal venture, Karen M. Rose, with a particular focus on helping women live inspired lives using the energies of plants, which will draw on her 15 years of work as a healer as well as her rich life experiences. Through her work, Karen will nourish the growth in each stage of an individual’s unique gestation, ultimately allowing self-realization and allowing their divine light to shine. Karen seeks to partner with practitioners from all paths in the healing community to build a mutual sense of purpose, connectivity, joy and love. Allowing a renewal of bodies, mind and spirit as we fully embrace our purpose and manifest joy in our everyday lives, for herein lays the potent miracle of the present moment!
For more information, please visit: karenmrose.me and sacredvibeshealing.com.

Majora Carter
Majora Carter is an urban revitalization strategy consultant, real estate developer, and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster.  She is responsible for the creation and successful implementation of numerous green-infrastructure projects, policies, and job training and placement systems. After establishing Sustainable South Bronx and Green For All, among other organizations, to carry on that work, she built on this foundation with innovative ventures and insights into urban economic developments designed to help move Americans out of poverty. Her long list of awards and honorary degrees include accolades from groups as diverse as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, Goldman Sachs, as well as a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship.  Her 2006 TED Talk was one of the first six videos to launch their groundbreaking website. Majora is a Board Member of the US Green Building Council, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Majora embodies the American Dream. She has continually set new standards of excellence with projects in her South Bronx community, while expanding her reach nationally and internationally. Her philanthropic pursuits and business interests have all pointed toward greater self-esteem and economic potential for low-income people everywhere.

Kendra Foster
Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Kendra Foster has been studying, performing and melding music with unstoppable passion. Her style defies classification but contains elements of  R&B, jazz, funk, rock, gospel, hip-hop, classical, electronica, and world. During collegiate life at Florida A&M University where she studied Jazz and Commercial Music, Kendra performed with many bands including Fish-N-Grits, RastaFunk, and Smoke, a band specializing in Parliament/Funkadelic covers. Kendra came full circle when funk mastermind George Clinton invited her to sign a production deal and tour with P-Funk. The works that combined into being her solo debut album featured the musical brilliance of P-Funk alumni Bernie Worrell, Blackbyrd McKnight, Paul Hill and Belita Woods, and showcased her conscious, street-wise, dreamy, and hopeful spirit. Her influences include Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, Billy Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Belita Woods, Brides of Funkenstein, Chaka Khan, Sade, Kim Burrell, Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Parliament/Funkadelic, D’Angelo, Bjork, Donny Hathaway, Bob Marley, Mary J Blige, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Meshell N’degeocello. Excited about her next solo album with extraordinary producer Kelvin Wooten, Kendra views this work as “channeling” a continuation of a multidimensional ministry. Always effortlessly eclectic, Kendra looks forward to being associated with many sounds.  Also a major dream fulfilled, she has been writing with the incomparable D’angelo on his forthcoming album and touring as background vocalist in his Vanguard since his first tour in a decade (Jan 2012-current). Her endless devotion to music, combined with her radiating spirit and soul-powered vocals, make Kendra a truly unique voice in American music.
For more information, visit: kendrafoster.net and reverbnation.com/kendrafoster.

Costumes
Erica Sewell – designer
Neith Sa Ra – seamstress

Waiting Room Magazine
Nontsikelelo Mutiti – designer
Alondra Nelson
Charmaine Bee
Aimee Meredith Cox
Vanessa Agard-Jones
A. Naomi Jackson
Robin Coste Lewis
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
Simone Leigh