HOW WE Move
A dance intensive created for and by D/deaf and Disabled dancers and centering multiply marginalized (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+) dancers within our communities.
Meet the 2026-2027 Artists
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Ariana Martinez is a queer, nonbinary artist of Puerto Rican descent working across sculpture, installation, and time-based media. Ariana’s geographic lineage spans the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern United States with present, familial homes in Lajas, Puerto Rico and Bronx, New York. Ariana uses their practice to understand how processes of spatial navigation and sensory perception are altered by displacement, debility, and ecological change. As a disabled artist living with neurological and autoimmune illnesses, Ariana works to challenge notions of distanced self-sufficiency and instead make space for a diversity of embodied and relationships to movement, land, and place. Ariana holds an M.F.A from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, a B.F.A in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University. They are the Art Director and among the Founding Editorial Board Members of Sound Fields, a publication about audio documentary, in theory and in practice. Ariana’s work has appeared at the Open City Documentary Festival (UK), the Barbican Cultural Center (UK), the Third Coast International Audio Festival (USA), LUCIA Festival (Italy), and the Hearsay Audio Arts Festival (Ireland). In 2018 they received the inaugural Signal to Noise Award from Union Docs and Gilded Audio, and has since been an artist in residence at The Steel Yard (RI); Arts, Letters, & Numbers (NY), The Ragdale Foundation (IL), The James Castle House (ID), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME) and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
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Miwa Nagura McCormick hails from Japan, where she got her dance bug while training in synchronized swimming as a child. She then started taking jazz dance classes and founded a jazz dance club in college. At UC Berkeley, where she studied molecular biology as an exchange student, she encountered modern dance through its dance department, founded by former Graham dancers David and Marnie Wood, and took daily dance classes there. Subsequently, she moved to NYC in 1991 to immerse herself in dance. The teachers who shaped her dance technique include David Storey, Lynn Simonson, Laurie DeVito, Diane McCarthy, and Tee Ross. She is also certified to teach the Simonson Technique. She performed in dances choreographed by David Storey, Donna Thomas, and Lisa Cluth, among others.
Professionally, she has over 30 years of experience producing and directing TV programs and has featured many choreographers, dance companies, and performances in the TV series of the Japanese public broadcasting network. Since her diagnosis of neurodegenerative movement disorder in 2019, she shifted her focus to produce stories about disability advocacy and inclusion. Her documentary about Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Broadway’s first Autistic Creative Consultant in the musical How to Dance in Ohio, won the 2024 Telly Silver Award in the DEI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category.
Miwa has a BA in Biology from International Christian University and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. She is thrilled to participate in the How We Move program after 23 years of hiatus from performing.
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The Uhuruverse is THE FREE UNIVERSE, an alternate spacetime/reality in which the universe (everything; the totality: space, time, matter and energy) is FREE/experiences freedom. As Uhuru means freedom in Swahili and "universe" comes from the Latin word universus, which is a mixture of the words versus (turned) and uni (one). Combined they form universus, which literally means “turned into one“.
The Uhuruverse is a PROTEST ARTIST who uses multiple mediums and performance styles to speak against oppression and demand and encourage liberation.
As a musician, The Uhuruverse can be best described as experimental. Best known as the electric guitarist for the band Fuck U Pay Us (a four piece Black tgnc, queer, femme punk band demanding land reparations for the African Holocaust and free self defense training for tgnc & femmes),The Uhuruvese also raps and is infamous for live/improv performance. The artist enjoys exploring other genres including but not limited to: Hip Hop, Punk, Funk, Disco, Vogue, Blues, Jazz,J Pop and New Jack Swing.
The Uhuruverse spliced together their own, original dance style that combines Burlesque and Butoh. The dancer uses burlesque and nudity in protest for queer sexual liberation and gender nonconformity. Butoh’s founder created the dance to mourn Japanese deaths in World War II. The Uhuruverse performs the “dance of death” to honor those slain during the African Holocaust.
The Uhuruverse performs drag and invokes interactive art and improvisation in their live performances. The Uhuruverse is a producer and curator of live shows that include mixed media and live performers. In 2016 The Uhuruverse directed the psychedelic film noir, “FIGHT IN HEELS”, a collaboration with the #SNATCHPOWER artist collective and directed a follow up second film in 2018 titled “Channeling Calafia (a pre-colonial/post-apolcalyptic short film about a Black indigenous leader of California). The Uhuruverse released their first music album in 2018 titled “The Brightest Oddest Strangest Star U Ever Did Saw Up Close and Afar From Planet Earth to Mars and Beyond.” They released their second album exclusively in 2019 titled “Who Killed Kenisha?!” And did their first immersive installation titled “Nightmare on Easy Street” in Folkestone, England critiquing the classism of fascism. The Uhuruverse founded #SNATCHPOWER in 2014.
Common Themes in The Uhuruverse’s Work:nature, Black/indigenous futurism, LGBTQIA/Black/poor/disabled inclusivity, goth/lolita/kawaii fashion, Satanism (anti-Christianty/christendom), recycling, anti-capitalism/ MINIMALISM, and anti-governnment/state/politics/policies.The Uhuruverse established The Deeepspacecraft in 2020 (a Black disabled tgnc owned and operated sanctuary space) in New Orleans, LA. The space has gone on to house over 35 Black trans folks in need and/or for creative purposes.
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Davian DJ Robinson is a passionate and boundary-breaking visually impaired dancer, choreographer, and performer. Drawing from his lived experience and athletic movement style, he creates choreography that is both physically powerful and emotionally resonant. His work blends dynamic storytelling with raw embodiment, inviting audiences into a world where rhythm, resilience, and adaptability redefine how we move and connect. Through both performance and education, Davian challenges conventions and opens new possibilities for inclusive expression in the arts.
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foster JANAE weems is a fat black queer and trans interdependent-disciplinary artist and educator whose life and work takes cues from the black baptist church, black queer kink community and an ever-expanding adoration of witnessing the capacious and audacious embodiments of the black imagination. foster is a dancer of the black improvisational dance tradition, a painter, composer/arranger and photographer who works to create care-driven spaces for ushering fat black queer and trans folks into play, experimentation, unbridled being and, ultimately, a deepened intimacy with- and trust of themselves, their desires and creative visions. foster is a 2025 NC Dance Festival Artist-in-Residence and 2026 Raleigh Arts Performance Fellow, a 2024 Grounded Possibilities Fellow and 2024 BLK Transcendence SEEDS Writing Fellow. They are the facilitator of Black Intimacy Practice (a body-centered space for fat black queer and trans artists, healers and dancers) and the founder/co-steward of Play Church (a co-op by and for black queer and trans artists, organizers and healers).
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Taja Will is a non-binary, chronically ill, queer, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee. They are a performer, choreographer, somatic therapist, consultant and Healing Justice practitioner based in Mni Sota Makoce, on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. Taja’s approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text and vocals in contemporary performance. Their aesthetic is one of spontaneity, bold choice making, sonic and kinetic partnership and the ability to move in relationship to risk and intimacy. Will’s artistic work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through a blend of ritual, dense multi-layered worldbuilding and everyday magic. Taja initiates solo projects and teaching ventures and is a recent recipient of the 2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and 2018-’19 McKnight Choreography Fellowship. Their work has been presented throughout the Twin Cities and across the United States. They have led the Taja Will Ensemble for 10 years and is currently working on a new ensemble performance ERODE, to premiere in 2027 at the Red Eye Theater. In addition to dance Taja is a Healing Justice practitioner, consultant, coach, educator and ritualist. They center Disability Justice, nervous system awareness, embodiment and relationship-building in all they do.
How We Move is our opportunity as D/deaf and Disabled dancers to figure out what we want to create outside of a mainstream dance lens—while unpacking our own internalized ableism. What’s possible when we stop assimilating to a non-disabled dance world? What happens when we move from the margin to the center? Together, we’re about to find out.
India Harville, Executive Director of Embraced Body and Co-creator of How We Move
What is How We Move?
This six month hybrid program combines virtual gatherings with a 10-day in-person intensive in New York City, providing space and opportunity for multiply marginalized D/deaf and Disabled dancers to move together, collaborate, and build cross-disability community.
How We Move will provide a rigorous access framework. Together, we’ll cultivate opportunities on our collective terms and build power towards a transformation of the colonial, eugenicist, and ableist lineages still present in our field.
MEET THE TEAM
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she/her
As a Disability Justice activist, performance artist, public speaker, and somatics practitioner, India Harville has made it her mission over the past 20 years to open people's minds to the wonder of their own bodies as a vehicle for growth and transformation, both personal and collective.India has danced with Sins Invalid, Dance Exchange, California State East Bay, The Queer Arts Festival, the Black Spirit Dance Collective, Mouthwater Festival, and Movement Liberation. She’s a two-time recipient of the Access Movement Play Residency funded by Mellon and is currently working on a one-woman show, Liminal. She’s certified as a dance instructor in: NIA, Zumba, Dancing Freedom, and DanceAbility, where she is both a Master Teacher and Master Trainer.
In 2016, she founded what is now known as Embraced Body, a Disability Justice and inclusive arts organization that began by providing accessible movement classes to Disabled communities. Since then, they’ve made disability-affirming dance funded by major philanthropic organizations, while also consulting on accessibility and Disability Justice.
The intersection of India’s own identities as an African American, queer, Disabled/chronically ill, femme, cis woman informs all her work. No matter what she is doing, she sets forth the example that however our bodies show up in the world, they are perfect, worthy of existence, and capable of magic.
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she/her
Kayla Hamilton is a Texas-born, Bronx-based dancer, performance maker, educator, consultant, and artistic director of Circle O—a cultural organization uplifting Black Disabled and other multiply marginalized creatives.She has developed & designed access-centered programming for the Mellon Foundation, Movement Research, DanceNYC, and UCLA, and is a co-director of Angela’s Pulse/Dancing While Black.
Kayla is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Pina Bausch Foundation Fellow, United States Artist Disability Futures Fellow, NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant recipient, and Bronx Cultural Visions Fund recipient. Her work has been presented at the Whitney Museum, Gibney, Performance Space NY, New York Live Arts and Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Kayla was also part of the Bessie award winning ensemble Skeleton Architecture.
As an educator, Kayla co-developed ‘Crip Movement Lab’ with fellow disabled artist Elisabeth Motley—a pedagogical framework centering cross-disability movement practices. She also worked as a K-12 public school special education teacher in NYC for 12 years.
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they/themJJ Omelagah (they/them) is the Program Director, Access Doula, and Healing Artist for Embraced Body and the founder of Sounds of Kayode.
With two decades of experience in human services and healthcare, JJ brings a unique perspective on care. They provide crucial access support and education while contributing to the organization's overall operations.
As a transgender sound artist, JJ’s mission is to create vibrant frequencies resonating with collective care, healing, and transformation. Each note contributes to the co-creation of a sonic environment where energies converge, intertwine, and uplift. They’ve performed at events such as SF Pride and the National Queer Arts Festival.
JJ studied at Howard University and City College of San Francisco and holds a certification in Project Management from the University of Arizona. They are also a trained Circle Sing Facilitator, Reiki practitioner, Orisha priest, and a committed advocate for Disability Justice and LGBTQIA+ rights. With comprehensive experience in Access Doulaship, project management, customer service, case management, conflict resolution, and volunteer management, JJ brings a wealth of knowledge to their work in access, care, and community building.
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she/any
Jesenia (Jess–N–ee–Ya) is a queer first-generation Indigenous-Venezuelan-American, AutiHD (Autistic & ADHD), living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.She is an artist, community builder and organizer, disability advocate, scientist, cultural producer and activist. Her approach is rooted in anti-racism, decolonizing, disability justice, and accessible design.
Jesenia founded One Free Community, an online community center helping decolonizing people connect and build mutual aid initiatives together.
Jesenia founded NeuroSpicy Networking to help neurodiverse professionals network and find jobs and runs a consulting business of the same name.
She serves as a Communications Producer with Calling Up Justice and regularly teaches workshops on conflict resolution, access inclusion, creating neuro-affirming spaces and more.
Jesenia is a 2024 Emerge Fellow with the Longmore Institute. She also engages in disability advocacy with Women Enabled International.
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they/them/themme
Ziiomi Law (Zee-o-me) is an embodied et cetera, period!A professional dancer & performer, arts administrative careworker, writer, community consultant, death doula, producer, model, and actor, previously nomadically based nowhere creating everywhere, currently re-rooting back home out of Atlanta, GA.
They are a Blackqueer non-binary icon who sweats possibility & oozes pleasure.
Zii was a proud member of the 6 time Lucille Lortel nominated, New York Times Critic Pick, cast of the Off-Broadway production (pray) in 2023.
Their movement lineages include, Urban Bush Women as a New York Van Lier Fellow, MBDance and SLMDances as a company member, and Atlanta Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a scholarship recipient, to name a few.
They are most fulfilled when collaborating on projects that feel like soul food. Ziiomi believes if it ain’t a full body YES, it’s a no! You can find themme luxuriating at the intersections of both/and.
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Movement Research, founded in 1978, is one of the world’s leading laboratories for the investigation of dance and movement-based forms. As a creative incubator for artists and emerging ideas, Movement Research provides space and resources for adventurous dance. Valuing the individual artist, their creative process and their vital role within society, Movement Research is dedicated to the creation and implementation of free and low-cost programs that nurture and instigate discourse and experimentation. Movement Research strives to reflect the cultural, political and economic diversity of its moving community, including artists and audiences alike.
In January 2019, Movement Research moved into its first permanent home at 122 Cultural Center. In 2024, Movement Research broke ground on the build-out of its two studio spaces located in 122CC to create: two dance studios to house MR programs and to serve artists and the community with subsidized rates for rehearsals, practice and convenings; a vestibule outside of the studios that offers a space to gather, stretch and converse; a resource room to provide meeting and lounge space for artists, and access to MR’s library and publications.
PrESS
Press Release: Aug 5, 2025
Press Release: Apr 22, 2026
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BROADWAY WORLD
Embraced Body Reveals HOW WE MOVE Cohort Two Dancers for Disability Arts Intensive
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The Dance Enthusiast
DANCE NEWS: Announcing Next 'How We Move' Program for D/deaf & Disabled Dance Artists
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Stance on Dance
Moving at The Speed of Access: An Interview with How We Move Program Director India Harville and Program Manager JJ Omelagah
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thINKing DANCE
When Something Does Not Exist, We Must Create It
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Dance Magazine
How We Move Offers a New Kind of Intensive Designed for Disabled and Multiply Marginalized Artists
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Broadway World
Embraced Body Announces How We Move Program
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Dance Informa
Embraced Body Announces How We Move Program
FUNDED BY MELLON FOUNDATION
