Fulani is a nurse, chef, actress, musician, bandleader and griot.  She is received lessons in acting from Vernon Blackman and drumbeat theory with Babatunde Olatunji at the historic Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury.  Fulani’s journey as a jazz vocalist and storyteller has spanned over four decades. She has shared the stage with recording artists such as Frank Wilkins, Akili J. Haynes, Hakim Law and Mike Shea. The Fulani Haynes Jazz Collaborative performs regularly in the Boston area. She has a long association with the Haley House Bakery Café. 

Fulani Haynes is also founder of Fulani’s Kitchen, a catering and nutritional education program for seniors and children. She is the founder/director of The Village for Education and Training, designed to engage African American youth of Roxbury and Dorchester to be self-sufficient in organic gardening, nutrition and cooking. Fulani has received the Community Hero Award from the City of Boston and Fox 25 News.

Jessica Natalie Smith is an actor, director, and movement designer. A graduate of the Brown University MFA Acting program, Jessica is the 2021 Choreography Fellow at The Hangar Theatre, a 2020-2021 Teaching Apprentice at Brown University, and a 24 Hour Plays alum. She recently had the honor of directing the national premiere of Jasmine Lee-Jones’ seven methods of killing kylie jenner at the Leeds Theatre in Rhode Island. Her recent work includes: Behold, A Negress (Everyman Theatre), Alien/Nation (Forest of Arden, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Elephant and Piggie(Choreography, Hangar Theatre), and we will eat your grief (RDA Producing), A Christmas Carol (Trinity Rep), Hamlet (Gallery Players), Housework(Hangar Theatre). Film: To Infinity and Beyonce, Aftermath (self-produced). To learn more about Jessica’s work and artistry, please visit www.jessicanataliesmith.com

Resilience is the word that comes up when describing McKersin. He overcame a troubled environment and upbringing in order to become the dancer, educator and artistic director that he is today. With Ethnic-Haitian dance as his base vocabulary, McKersin started building a bigger arsenal with Hip-Hop, Jazz and Tap. Today, he leads workshops throughout various parts of the world orientated towards social justice and the roots of African American culture and movement. McKersin is currently leading an international research project that involves the ties and spread of the African Diaspora in the western hemisphere as well as many projects throughout his community. His local projects promote emotional competency, healing and conversation through the arts. He is also a full-time performing arts teacher in a K-8 school in his community while running his non-profit, Lakaï Arts that aims to build stronger communities of color towards self-sufficiency using the arts and Lakaï Dance Theatre, a subsidiary of his non-profit.