Mikah Simone bd (she/they)is an Arab-American dance artist based in Philadelphia. Her work navigates holding her many identities and researches the impacts of Westernization upon memory among the women and queer folks within her family. Mikah’s work is grounded in the resiliency practice of falling in love/love/loving as a way of world-building and disarming oppressive systems collectively.
Mikah has performed her work at Cannonball Festival at Philly FringeArts, Leah Stein: The Art Room, and with BAX EmergeNYC at Abrons Art Center. She holds a BA in Dance from Bennington College, is a collective organizer and teacher with Philly Dance Share, and the co-founder of POPPY.
Samira Mendoza aka MIRA MIRA is a cultural worker rooted in transdisciplinary performance and community organizing. Their work investigates oppressive systems, family history in Latin America and the Caribbean, and their personal experiences growing up in the South. Mendoza sees improvisation as an act of resistance, a space to reject formal structures and create new ideas.
Their current projects include Las Mariquitas, Dendarry Bakery, Tó Ara, Recao Rulé, and Spiral Generator. Las Mariquitas is “one of the New York City bands reimagining Salsa and challenging the patriarchy” (Rolling Stone). Dendarry Bakery is an experimental performance trio including Gladstone Deluxe and Mobéy Lola Irizarry. Tó Ara is an experimental trio comprised of Mobéy Lola Irizarry and Key Hutch. Recao Rulé is a traditional puerto rican bomba group. Spiral Generator is an experimental supergroup composed of Rage.inald, Kiernan Laveaux, T.Wan, 30,000AD, and Pamela_ And Her Sons.