Suchi Branfman, choreographer/curator/performer/activist, has worked from the war zones of Managua to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre and Kampala’s Luzira Prison to NYC’s Joyce Theatre. Branfman is currently in year seven of a ten-year choreographic residency inside a men’s-prison in Norco, California. She is Artistic Facilitator/Director of the Dancing Through Prison Walls project, choreographing and curating performance, film, and written works in deep collaboration with current and formerly incarcerated, and “free world” movers. Branfman is currently an 18th St. Arts Center Creative Corps Fellow and Montalvo Lucas Artist Fellow, serves on faculty at Scripps College, is a community gardener, and prison abolition activist.

Selina Ho works as a data analyst at the Vera institute of Justice creating advocacy-driven data products. She joined Dancing Through Prison Walls in February 2019, facilitating dance with Suchi Branfman and dear friends at California Rehabilitation Center, a medium security men’s state prison in Norco, CA. In community, she strives towards cultivating modes of closeness and care.

Tom Tsai is a dance artist, filmmaker, educator, and activist in Los Angeles. His work is informed by his upbringing in post-martial law Taiwan, as well as his dedication to Hip Hop and B-boy/Bgirl culture. He has performed his solo works throughout the USA, and internationally in London, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Singapore. His work has received support from the California Arts Council, City of Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, Ghost Light Residency, and Dance Resource Center’s Homegrown Residency @ The Music Center. He has been adjunct dance faculty at Pomona College, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, and Chapman University. He is a chief collaborator with Dancing Through Prison Walls.

Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo (she/her/they/them) is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who lives/works between Ohlone Land [Oakland, CA] and Powhatan Land [Richmond,VA]. Their work has been included in exhibitions and performances at Konsthall C [Stockholm, Sweden], SEPTEMBER Gallery [Hudson, NY], EFA Project Space [New York City, NY], Leslie Lohman Museum [New York City, NY], San Francisco State University Gallery, Signal Center for Contemporary Art [Malmo, Sweden], Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [San Francisco, CA] and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive [Berkeley, CA], amongst others. For the past 5 years, Lukaza has been the Lead Curator at Nook Gallery, collaborating with over 80+ artists, writers, performers & musicians, in a gallery located in their apartment kitchen. They received their MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

Bernard Brown is a Black, queer artist, choreographer, educator, and arts activist who works at the crossroads of Blackness, queerness, and belonging. As artistic director of Bernard Brown/bbmoves, a social justice dance company, his choreography has been presented across the US and internationally in Seoul, Barcelona, India, Istanbul, Italy and future engagements in Burkina Faso and Benin. Brown’s activism has been featured by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. A first generation college graduate, he is Assistant Professor of Dance at Loyola Marymount University, a Certified Katherine Dunham Technique Instructor Candidate and currently a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellow.

Damian Busby works as a Career Coach for UCSD's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity, assisting justice-impacted individuals. He is also the UC Underground Scholars Initiative Ambassador for San Diego Mesa College, and a full-time student and Physics major. During his 23 years of incarceration, Damian mentored in GED education and vocational classes, as well as tutoring college students for well over 10 years. He was also a member of the Claremont/Pitzer College inaugural Inside-Out, 8-member Bachelor's Degree Cohort, receiving his BA in Organizational Studies. He is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the California State Senate and is currently working on obtaining a PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics.

Susan Bustamante is an organizer with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. She grew up in Southern California and was sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole in 1987. After serving 31 years in prison, she received a commutation from Governor Jerry Brown which allowed her to apply for parole. She was paroled and released on September 12, 2018. She is an activist, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and she sees it as her life’s mission to advocate against intimate partner violence.

Jay Carlon is a contemporary dance artist and community organizer based between LA and NYC and is committed to connecting his art practice to sustainability and his personal and collective journey of decolonization. Carlon was named Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2020. He is a performer and directing associate with the Sway, where he has performed at the 2014 Olympics, the 2016 World EXPO, and the 2018 Super Bowl. Carlon has also performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Bill T. Jones, jumatatu m. poe, Oguri, Solange Knowles, Rodrigo y Gabriela; and choreographed works for Kanye West and Mndsgn.

Marc Antoni Charcas is a competition level salsa dancer, who started dancing with the Dancing Through Prison Walls project inside CRC in January of 2017. Marc Antoni is a firefighter, tattoo artist, voice-over narrator and skilled HVAC installer. We are honored that he has joined us for this work.

Daniel Duron is formerly incarcerated and a graduate of Pitzer College with a degree in Organizational Studies. Daniel started working with the Dancing Through Prison Walls project in the Fall semester of 2020 while he was held captive in the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California. Post-graduating this December, Daniel aspires to pursue his master’s degree in Public Administration through the Claremont Graduate University here in Claremont, and his life mission is to be the bridge between those who are currently and formerly incarcerated and institutions of higher education.

Ernst Fenelon Jr.is an International Speaker, Author, Life Coach, Holistic Justice Advocate, Poet, and Entrepreneur. He is the Program Coordinator/Consultant to the Prison Education Project (PEP) programs around the world. He also works with other organizations, regarding social justice, personal transformation, and reintegration. He has appeared in numerous documentaries, articles, podcasts, and interviews. His theatrical dance performances include “Angee’s Journey” (based on his and his mother’s lives).

Mokhtar Ferbrache is a formerly incarcerated, self-trained visual artist. Having produced numerous art pieces and murals at multiple institutions throughout the California prison system, Mokhtar is now seeking a BFA in graphic design at CSU San Bernardino. Although a skilled multidisciplinary artist, he has taken great pleasure in the “freedom of making abstract art” since his release from prison.

Irvin Manuel Gonzalez (he/él/they/elle) is an artivist, scholar, community organizer, and teacher. He currently works at the Ohio State University as an assistant professor in Dance and is a founding member of Primera Generación Dance Collective. Gonzalez’s scholarship analyzes how immigrant, queer, and working-class Latin American social dancers navigate hegemonic forces through feeling and creativity while situating creative constructions of/for belonging and social change. As an artist, Gonzalez grounds his work in rasquachismo, a working-class Chicanx sensibility, to generate collaborations and new potentials that upend the intended use-value of materials, connections, and being.

Kenji Igus has been tap dancing since the age of six and teaching since the age of fifteen. Kenji can be seen tap dancing in a variety of media including doing work for ESPN and Capezio. He has choreographed two shows for Universal Studios Hollywood, consulted on a Coen Brothers movie, “Hail, Caesar” and starred in Rhythm is my Business, a film showcasing tap dance in the modern world sponsored by Levi's Jeans. Igus is featured as a writer for a Google Arts and Culture’s editorial, bringing more information on Tap Dance to the general public.

Leo Manzari is an award-winning musician and Lucille Lortel award nominated tap dancer. Off-broadway production of Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life, So You Think You Can Dance, 50th Inaugural Celebration of JFK, Marvin Gaye Tribute, and the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Center. Dorrance Dance’s Nutcracker Suite, The Mo'nique Show, The Kate TV, TEDMED, PBS News Hour, Jerry Lewis Telethon, and ABC's "The View." Hozier’s “Almost (Sweet Music),” and guest artist with Anderson Paak’s band The Free Nationals. Philly POPS, The Winnipeg Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and The Oregon Symphony. Season 6 of Showtime's "Homeland," and writer and vocalist of his own music which can be found at www.leomanzari.com

Richie Martinez is a writer, voice-over artist and passionate dancer who started working with the Dancing Through Prison Walls project inside CRC in 2019. His written work has been published in Undanced Dances Through Prison Walls During a Pandemic by Sming Sming Books. Richie is a father of four and we are honored that he has agreed to be a part of this project.

Mims is an artist, abolitionist, and facilitator based in Los Angeles, CA. Her work spans across the disciplines of dance, advocacy, facilitation, curation, and direction. She experiences the body as a site of liberation and uses that information as a guide. In her ever evolving exploration of what it means to be in right relationship with ourselves, each other, the land, and other species; her body is her first place of inquiry and practice.

Ramon is a senior at Cal Poly Pomona, earning his Bachelor of Arts in History and minoring in Latina/o Chicana/o Studies. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in public policy and continue advocating for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated population. He volunteers for Prison Education Project (PEP) and is a member of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and Project Rebound. When he is not working or volunteering, he enjoys traveling, spending time in nature, and sharing meals with family and friends.

Amy Oden is a freelance performer based in New York City. She has been a part of the Dancing Through Prison Walls community since 2018. In addition to her work with Dancing Through Prison Walls, she dances with Pennington Dance Group, and has worked with Laura Gutierrez, Donna Sternberg, and Kevin Williamson. When she’s not dancing, she’s working to make mathematics more equitable, building with Critical Resistance as a volunteer, or doting over her spaniel mix, Kenny.

Romarilyn Ralston is the Executive Director of Project Rebound at California State University Fullerton. Project Rebound supports the higher education and successful reintegration of the formerly incarcerated with a vision that higher education disrupts the revolving door practices of mass incarceration. Romarilyn is a black feminist prison abolitionist scholar working to interrupt criminalization at the intersections of race, gender, and education. Romarilyn earned a Master in Arts degree in Liberal Arts at Washington University in St. Louis and Bachelor in Arts degree in Gender & Feminist Studies at Pitzer College. She has received several honors and awards for her work over the years including being named Pitzer College’s 2020 Distinguished Alumni Honoree. California Senator Ling Ling Chang’s 2020 Woman of Distinction Social Justice Champion awardee, and National Council of 100 Black Women (Orange County Chapter), 2018 Civil Rights and Advocacy recipient.

Forrest Reyes is a writer, artist, and academic enthusiast. As a California mountains native he pursues his love of exploration through philosophy, astronomy, quantum physics, poetry and an overarching spirituality tying them all together. He dreams of making this world a better place by bringing people together in awe of life’s beauty.

Terry Sakamoto Jr. is a generous and accomplished storyteller, whose work has been published by Sming Sming Books, in Undanced Dances Through Prison Walls During a Pandemic. He is also a passionate truck driver who has traveled the highways of the United States.