WE CREATE 2025 ARTIST BIOS

































































































































































Ananth Udupa (he/they) is a dancer, visual artist, and planner based in Boston, MA. With a background in Bharatanatyam and architecture, his work aims to nurture diasporic communities through socially engaged art. Ananth’s current focus is the relationship between emotion-based movement, South Asian rituals, and being in space explored through performance, drawing, collage, and sculpture. His work has been exhibited in MassART’s Godine Gallery and Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts. He was part of the 2023 aMASSit choreography cohort at the Dance Complex and is an Early Career Fellow for Natura Network.




Greetings! I'm Deborah (I also go by Efunyemi), a Brooklyn-based artist with roots in Atlanta, Georgia. I continue to obtain inspiration from movement and spirituality. My work centers around Black bodies and their connection to African-based religions via Club Dance and House Music, alongside my spiritual practice, particularly Ifá and Ìṣẹ̀ṣe. With my body being the canvas, I explore the intersections of culture, identity, and other nuances. Interpreting from firsthand experiences and credence, I shall depict the depth and resilience of Black bodies while shedding light on the complexities of particular Yoruba deities. Through movement, I seek to convey the spiritual energy and power that lies within. Thank you for joining me on this journey of self-discovery and connection through art.


Usa kasakabo da iri le Yaya Inaru’ni 

Good day my name is Yaya Inaru’ni 

I’m mestiz, Taíno, Africana and Gitana. Writer, partera, yerbera, singer, drummer, dancer, medicine woman… who uses my voices as an artist and messenger of spirit to elevate our souls in a deep connection to spirit and our own identities. I bring a profound respect for what it means to be part of this powerful ancestry. I see drums, singing, dancing as part of the communication between this realm and the spiritual one. I see revolution and freedom in the voices of my many roles. 



DeVante Love (They/Them) is an Olympic Martial Artist, Movement Therapist, and Medicine Woman dedicated to empowering queer people of color worldwide to find inner peace through meditative movement. While obtaining a master's in Spiritual Psychology from Columbia University, they developed a curriculum integrating dance and martial arts to enhance emotional and spiritual intelligence EQ/SQ. They are now pursuing a PhD at Tufts researching the liberating potential of ritual dance and ritual combat in Voguing and Capoeira. They also create immersive ritual plays that blend Traditional Chinese Medicine with dance, martial arts, spoken word, and popular culture.



Simon Montalvo (they/them) is a non-binary/transgender movement artist, researcher, and collector of stories born on the land of the Coahuiltecan and Karankawan peoples. They’re currently living on the land of the Massachusett and Pawtucket peoples, and are grateful for the generosity of the land that holds them. They recognize that this land acknowledgment is only a small part of their fierce commitment to the global Land Back movement.They’re interested in movement research exploring experimental improvisation, radical community care, and moving in forms that make us feel things.



Jassi Murad (They/ them) is an inter-disciplinary artivist, healer, teacher and student. Growing up in Jerusalem, Palestine— they realized the urgency for art as peaceful archival resistance. Their  practice is guided by a research of intersectional liberation through embodied expression and co-creation of alternative realities. Holding a BA in Contemporary Dance and Performance, 200hr YTT, and Reiki practitioner; they work between Palestine, Europe, and USA with a diverse range of creators.





Jovielle Gers is an art educator at the Neighborhood School in Jamaica Plain, Ma. In recent years she has made murals of local endangered species in Boston, organized the Wake Up the Earth Parade, and been on the team that organizes the festival. She has taught yoga and mindfulness around Boston and at Waltham Children’s Hospital/ Walden Behavioral Care. She lived and worked in Northern India over a few years doing photography for the Norbulingka Institute, a Tibetan organization, as well as photographing the Dalai Lama. She received her BFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts/ Tufts University. She asks us to imagine a world without music, dance, art, poetry, theater...and shares this reflection. The world is all the more exquisite because of people having the courage, and joy, of discovering and sharing what they have within.Whether making or experiencing art, engaging with creativity breathes life into our days and gives us a gift that transforms us.



Nitika Raj is a queer South Asian immigrant femme. She is a coach, writer and dancer. She founded Moksh Consulting in 2016 to shift collective consciousness towards greater equity, connection, and joy. She does social justice work for the same reason she makes art and prays – to seek truth and build peace. In 2015 Nitika co-founded the YKR performance project and Collective in NYC to raise awareness about issues of gender, sexuality, and violence in the South Asian community. Born in India and raised in Kuwait, she is a former refugee who currently lives on Lenape lands in Brooklyn, New York.



Charmaine Santiago Galdón, Boston’s actress-playwriter-dancer-spoken-word-poet. Parents from Puerto Rico. Attended Jose Julian Acosta, Theatre-junior-high school, San Juan. Teaching-Artist since age 14. 2012, Theatre B.A., UMass Amherst. Performed throughout five colleges, Western Massachusetts. Became “Body Politics”’ cast-member-co-director of, women-of-color production. Upon graduation, gained internship at renown “Pregones Theater”, New York. 2012-2015, founded “Bomba Sankofa,” Afro-Puerto-Rican Folkloric-Bomba- Ensemble with storytelling, spoken-word-hip-hop elements. November, 2019, Producer- Playwright: Musical-Theater “Esto es Puerto Rico”, funded by Boston Foundation. February,2020, performed theater as part of legendary “Haciendo-Punto’s” concert, Center of Fine Arts, Puerto Rico. 2013, “Charmaine Santiago Galdón Award” created by Mass LEAP Organization, annual Louder Than-a-Bomb.



Zaquia Mahler Salinas, is a Chicana/Palestinian dance artist invested in movement-art as an act of reclamation and world-building. She dances at the intersection of performance, social practice, education, and advocacy; Zaquia finds joy in cultivating community, and lives for the magic inherent in collaboration. In 2018, Zaquia co-founded DISCO RIOT, a nonprofit organization that supports radical dance and creative possibilities in San Diego. In 2024, she relocated to Boston, and is currently serving as a Resident Curator with ODC Theater in San Francisco. Currently, Zaquia is working on a new venture, Ephemeral Artery, with the intention to uplift skillful practice, project development, and collaboration.




Carmen S. Rizzo, from São Paulo, Brazil, is a Somerville-based dance artist, dance educator, fitness instructor, and arts administrator. She graduated from the professional training program at Escola de Dança de São Paulo and from Manhattanville College (Dance and Business). Her choreography has recently been performed at NACHMO, Boston WiP, Dance for World Community and ArtBeat. Exploring the neuroscience of dance and of emotion, Carmen choreographs collaboratively, showcasing dancers’ abilities and expressive voices, bridging the gap between science and art. Debunking that science and dance are hard to understand, Carmen brings diversity into dance, making the work more relatable.




Jorge Arce: Actor, Theater Director, Composer, Singer, Puerto Rican traditional music band, and Puertpo Rican traditional ensemble director, historian and percussionist.

Notas Biográficas:

Jorge Arce, M.Ed. 1995, Harvard University; Boston Conservatory of Music (musical-theater),1985, doctoral-candidate and showcased-artist. Born: Puerto Rico.  Actor, singer, composer, dancer, choreographer, graphic artist, and educator.  Member: Raíz de Plena (Puerto Rico and Boston), founder  and director; Haciendo Punto en Otro Son (Puerto Rico, 1978-1983); Humano (Boston Music Awards 1991), founder and director; (Atabal (Puerto Rico, 1979-1983), Bombazo Boricua:  Puerto Rican Bomba Dance Troupe (Founder and Director,2013-Present), Esto es Puerto Rico: The Musical (Director, 2019-Present). Recording productions:  “Jorge Arce  Compilation / Compilación 1991-2013” (Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, CD Baby); 10 Lps-Cds with Haciendo Punto and Atabal (2013 (Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, CD Baby). Founded Humano Multicultural Project (1987).  His show The Afro-Caribbean Workshop shares cultural values. Locally and abroad recognitions.  Among many awards: 2013-Present Boston City Council Recognitions for Commitment in Building a Better Boston, African Diaspora Arts & Culture Award 2013 for  outstanding achievement in preserving diverse cultural  arts forms reflective of African People in the Diaspora Presented by ABDM, Inc, The Jorge Hernández Leadership Award  2013, excellence in expression culture arts, history and pride of Latinos and Latin American Diaspora presented by IBA, Inc., 2014 Community Catalyst Award, contributions to art and culture in Roxbury and Greater Boston by Hibernian Hall and Madison Park Project, 2017 National Hispanic Heritage Month Award by Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Mass-Port, 2012 Traditional Arts Fellowship Finalist by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Brother Thomas Fellowship awarded by Boston Foundation 2019.  2020 Excellency Award and Recognition (including City’s Official Key and Banner) by the City of Ponce, PR. 2022 Lucía Mayerson-David LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD by TAG Educational Association, Inc., Dec 3, 2023 Official Recognition for Cultural Contribution in the Diaspora by City of Ponce, PR.




For Danza Orgánica’s Bios, please visit our company page.