Mariachi Girl at Teatro Audaz San Antonio

Sami L.A. Akuna (aka Cocoa Chandelier)

Internationally, Sami L.A. Akuna has performed in Asia, Europe, North America, and across the Pacific. With over 25 years of professional experience in dance/theatre and performance, Sami has performed with numerous companies, including being a principal dancer with Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre, Artistic Director of Giinko Marischino, and most recently as Founder and Co-Director of Piko Dance Arts. Sami holds BFA degrees in Dance and Theater and the MFA in Asian Theatre Directing from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and has taught Yoga, Modern Dance, Visual Media for Dance, and Queer Dance as a lecturer for the University of Hawai‘i system. Sami began a career in Butoh and Drag in 1991 as a product of the Club Kid scene in Hawai‘i, performing in various nightclubs, house parties, and non-traditional performance settings. Cocoa Chandelier, Sami’s alter ego, travels continuously as an advocate and spokesperson for HIV/AIDS.

Sequoia Carr-Brown

Sequoia Carr-Brown is the founder of a creative arts advocacy company, StRaNgE FrUiT XPrEsS. She can be seen performing or choreographing for collaborative community projects from O‘ahu Fringe and the University of Hawai‘i Kennedy Theatre Main Stage Season to invitationals such as the University of Poitiers a Corps Festival in France, Aloha Medical Mission’s “Aloha on a Mission'' fundraising projects, and Dance Festival in Tank, Seoul, Korea. She performed in the finale of Ken Kurt Kaminaka's and Diq Diamond's, film, Tales of the Circle Keys, and Tau Dance Theater's INDIGENUITY production. Her most recent work, “A Matter of Place: Willkommen Amerikaner”, 2021 can be found on the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design’s “8x8” virtual exhibition https://www.shangrilahawaii.org/visit/exhibitions/8x8_shangrila/ and the Seoul International Dance Festival in Tank, “Transformation on the Edge”, 2021 https://ingdance.kr/33 . Sequoia is the Creative Dance Director for the J.E.T.H. Continuing Education and Performing Arts School, and the Co-Director of Piko Dance Arts. Currently, she is the Casting Coordinator with the Institute of Violence, Abuse, and Trauma for their Spring 2022 International Hawai’i Summit, Honolulu.

Kara Jhalak Miller

Kara Jhalak Miller is a dance artist, choreographer, educator, and member of the dance faculty at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. For over 30 years, she has performed and collaborated with dancers, creating experimental installations, performances, and films. As the artistic director of Jhalak Dance Company, her research and creative work have been presented internationally in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Jhalak earned a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School in New York City, an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Davis. Jhalak is the recipient of the U.S. State Department Jacob K. Javits Arts Fellowship, CALIT2 Dance and New Media Performance Residency, and the Hawai‘i Po‘okela Award for Choreography. She is most recently a performing member and Co-Director of Piko Dance Arts collective. www.jhalakdance.org