ABOUT THE ARTISTS

DORCHEL HAQQ
Dorchel creates physical theatre work as a vessel through which she and her collaborators navigate the complexities of being who they are in this present moment, while reflecting on how their collective history shape their future. Through improvisation, Dorchel shape memories into movement, a world-building practice, creating stories, characters, and set designs that explore time, space, and form in conversation with sociopolitical responses in the nervous system. Rooted in curiosity, Dorchel’s practice cultivates a sustainable ecosystem centering black culture with a deep value in care and trust between the body and space. 

The following organizations have supported Dorchel in find herself again and again through singular and collaborative investigations: Springboard Danse and the Springboard Danse curated Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation Founder's Residency (inaugural resident), Gallim Moving Artist(inaugural resident), Leimay Incubator AIR 2021, Center for Performance Research AIR 2024, Baryshnikov Arts Center AIR 2024, Triskelion Arts 2019+2026, Beyond the Black Box 2021+2023, Black Aesthetics Judson Commons 2024, MADE BY WOMAN Festival 2023, Estrogenius Festival 2025, Arts On Site 2019+2021, ART CAKE 2021, Movement Research Van Lier Artist of Color Fellow 2025, DraftWork- Danspace Project 2025, Battery Dance Festival 2020+2025, New York Live Arts, City Artist Corps Grant 2021, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant 2024. 

Raised in Harlem, Dorchel began my journey embodying history at LaRocque Bey School of Dance Theatre and the Dance Theater of Harlem. Dorchel studied at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and received her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY. Upon graduating, she was commissioned to create a new work for the conservatory’s Fall Concert. Dorchel has performed in works by AIM by Kyle Abraham, Kayla Farrish, Loni Landon, Vanessa Goodman, Maya Lee-Parritz, Stefanie Batten Bland, Johannes Wieland, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More Shanghai, and Emursive’s Life and Trust. Dorchel is in her first season with David Dorfman Dance. Through her 2025 Movement Research Van Lier Artist of Color Fellowship, she was mentored by Nora Chipaumire. Dorchel is a 2025/26 New York Live Arts Fresh Tracks Resident.

NAILAH MURRAY
Nailah Murray (she/her) is a Brooklyn based mover and maker. Murray trained in Capoeira Angola with her father, Contramestre Chicago, throughout her childhood and adolescence. This early introduction to movement drove her to explore technical dance training. She studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance before pursuing her BFA in Dance at the University of the Arts. Murray has performed in works by Niall Jones, Dorchel Haqq, Jesse Zaritt, Shayla-Vie Jenkins and Sidra Bell. Murray is adamant about meeting the world as she experiences it; to engage with work as a declaration of existing. Inspired and in conversation with artists familiar with the urgency of making, Murray uses interdisciplinary modes and textiles to create dynamic physical spaces.

NY OPONG
Ny is a movement and performing artist. They received a BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2019. Upon graduation they joined The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company where they were a member from 2019-2024. Following their time with The BTJ/AZ Company, Ny joined the cast of the immersive theater show Life and Trust until its closing in 2025. They have also worked, collaborated with and performed works by artists along the East and West coasts including; Lee Mingwei, Evelyn Wang, Vinson Fraley Jr., Shamel Pitts, Huiwang Zhang, Volta Collective, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Okuwi Okpokwasili [Sweat Variant] and others. Ny primarily uses improvisation as their movement medium. In an effort to get in touch with and reveal the generations of history and memory that are held in their body. Discovering how those memories influence, affect and aid in how we shape our lives to move through the world. Ny studies movement through themselves and others; the subtleties and extremities of effort, emotion and sound that come from and move through the body.

IME SOUL
Ime Soul is a live arts practitioner working on ephemeral installations, moving images, and performance. Ime Soul presents biomythological work exploring Blackness, abjection, sexuality, and the constraints of language as articulation. Their performances misuse formal qualities of Black church. Often a combination of extended duration and high intensity, Ime Soul uses fatigue as a vehicle to open up a sensorial and reflective space. Like church, witness and participation makes their work complete. Ime Soul received an undergraduate degree in Fine Art and American and Indigenous studies at Bard College (2022), as well as a graduate degree from the Center for Human Rights and the Arts (2024). Their work has been shown across New York State at spaces ranging from fine art institutions to public interruptions– Performance Space NY, Gallery 495 ('26), CultureHub (‘26), Intercomm (‘24, ‘25) to name a few.

Kneaku
Kneaku is a time based storyteller known for their energetic DJ sets, theatrical sound design, performance, and film work. Born and raised by Jamaicans in South Florida, they are influenced by Black dance music like Dancehall, Ballroom and East Coast Club. 

Kneaku models the taste of South Florida DJs, cooking with Soflo Jook, Miami Bass, , Dancehall, NOLA bounce, Jersey Club, Philly Club, Bmore Club, Hip Hop & R&B; while infusing personal favorites, [Ghetto] House / Techno, Juke, Footwork, Bmore Club, Breakbeat and Ballroom! 

Kneaku founded Cygnus x-1, a party that platforms local talent and champions progressive abstract black music, and Haus of Quench, a guerrilla theater drag collective.

Kneaku has extended their DJ Performance repertoire with theater works down&out vol. 2: crisis! and closed mouths don't get fed. They recently released an experimental film episodic, “i guess you can come in”, along with an accompanied live DJ set. Kneaku commits to creating a well-rounded experience that is rooted in theatrical traditions and multidisciplinary practices. 

CONNOR SALE
Connor Sale is a Brooklyn-based Lighting Designer and the Resident Lighting Designer of Triskelion Arts. Recent collaborations include: til infiniti, Farewell My Fool, The Closties Variety Hour; The Suite; to begin with no end; ENUF (Triskelion Arts), The Missing Fruit, Part 1 (New York City Center/Fall For Dance), Das Ersatz (The Brick), Das Rauschgift (Box of Moonlight), MEOW! (Exponential Festival), With Tears (BEAMS), Femenine (PS21), the body || dust (Gibney), But, Soft (PAGEANT), and Sea Change (Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago). He’s toured internationally with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (École des Sables/Sadler’s Wells co-production), Akram Khan’s Gigenis, and Faye Driscoll’s Weathering. He’s interested in using the temporary nature of light to make people more active in space. More of his work can be found at connorsale.com and at @connorsalelight