Kelly Strayhorn Theater

Edisa Weeks / DELIRIOUS Dance

Edisa Weeks / DELIRIOUS Dances is a choreographer, educator, and maker who creates multimedia interdisciplinary work that merges theater with dance to explore our deepest desires, darkest fears, and sweetest dreams.

Adil Mansoor

Adil Mansoor is a theatre director and educator centering the stories of queer folks and people of color. Directing projects include Gloria by  Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Hatch Arts), Chickens in the Yard by Paul Kruse (Hatch Arts and Quantum Theatre), Desdemona’s Child by Caridad Svich (Carnegie Mellon University), Dark Play or Stories for Boys by Carlos Murillo (Carnegie Mellon University) and an upcoming ensemble generated piece with Pittsburgh Playhouse.

slowdanger

anna thompson and taylor knight, are co-founders of performance entity, slowdanger. Together, they fuse sound and movement through contemporary and postmodern dance frameworks, using integrative technology, vocalization, and ontological examination to engage in collaborative work.

STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp&SS)

STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp&SS) exists to interpret and mirror culture and community through dance and dance centered multi-media experiences. With diverse casting and programming, SPdp&SS explores innovative conceptual possibilities while participating in meaningful collaboration.

Marjani Forté-Saunders

Marjani Forté-Saunders is a choreographer, performer, educator, community organizer, and mother. She refers to dance and embodiment as her sorcery—revolutionary, transformative, wild, ancient, and fresh. Her practice is informed by years in anti-racist organizer training and as a lead facilitator with Urban Bush Women’s (UBW) Builders, Organizers and Leaders through Dance. She is anchored in a steady collaboration with partner and composer Everett Asis Saunders.

Marjani Forté-Saunders & Everett Saunders / 7NMS

Marjani Forté-Saunders & Everett Saunders / 7NMS (Fall 2020 - Fall 2021) KST is thrilled to be a co-commissioner for A Prophet’s Tale, a new forthcoming multidisciplinary body of work from artists Marjani Forté-Saunders and Everett Saunders that upholds Hip Hop music’s Emcee as the “minister of global transformation."

Jasmine Hearn

Jasmine Hearn (Fall 2020 - Summer 2021) Choreographer and performer Jasmine Hearn will be in residence throughout the ‘20/’21 season with A Patient Practice, an ongoing project that makes room for intergenerational conversation, play, and study. Throughout the residency Hearn will facilitate space and time to unfurl their lineage as a story-teller and post-modern dancer by connecting with mentors and inspirations to begin and continue conversations that bridge the distance between age and discipline. Hearn will be working in KST’s Alloy Studios throughout the fall with public showings and workshops stemming from their research to take place in spring and summer 2021. Stay tuned for more!

Akasha L. Van Cartier

Akasha L. Van Cartier, Pittsburgh’s foremost Drag Queen has been entertaining audiences for 21 years. She first started raising money performing in benefit events. Akasha has also competed and performed nationally, gaining experience, recognition, and starting Drag Queen Story Hour with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. You can see Akasha throughout the Tri-State area, reading to children, raising money for the Humane Animal League and now starring in Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s new KST Global Stream series Drag Queen Story Time.

Rahaman “Kil” Kilpatrick

Rahaman “Kil” Kilpatrick is a music producer, relationship coach, and screenwriter and Community & Family Engagement Senior Manager for Horton’s Kids. Kil has worked with youth in Southeast Washington, DC for more than 20 years & lives in Waldorf, Maryland with his wife, Tanya, and daughter, Naomi. Kil is originally from Philadelphia, PA and earned his B.A. at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland in telecommunications.

https://www.newmusicusa.org/projects/a-prophets-tale-a-portrait-of-the-lyricist/