September 13, 2024 | Uncategorized,

World Alive! Artists Announced

Our 9th Annual World Alive! will feature members of Minty Fresh Circus, Maria Hendricks with Geraldine Barney, and honoree Elsa Mosquera-Sterenberg of Ágora Cultural Architects!

Proceeds from World Alive! support our 24/25 season and will assist in the development of our mission through meaningful programming, show development, and community engagement. Read more below to learn about each of these artists and honorees. For more information on World Alive! and ticket purchase options, click here.

ELSA MOSQUERA-STERENBERG

Elsa is the co-founder and creative powerhouse of Ágora Cultural Architects. Founded in 2019, Ágora creates, empowers, and promotes the sustainability of the makers of Latin American culture in the US and Puerto Rico by optimizing tools for creators and organizations to fulfill their goals. Aside from her role as an arts administrator, she thrives at producing innovative solutions to change the social landscape and make communities more just, creative, and equitable. After Hurricane Maria, she co-founded the Massachusetts for Puerto Rico Fund at The Boston Foundation, which raised $4 million to assist in the island’s reconstruction. Elsa holds a BA from Fordham University in International Studies and French, MBA from New York University, and a Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Harvard University.

MARIA HENDRICKS
Maria Hendricks (She, Her/s) is a multilingual AfroIndigenous Actor/Activist. After curating programming at Emerson’s UnCommon Stage this past Summer culminating in a full day of performances on Indigenous Peoples Day 10/14/24 – Maria is thrilled to be performing on the World Alive stage this year.

You can see Maria next in Between Riverside & Crazy at the Gamm Theatre in RI. Past Credits include: The More The Man-Fresh Ink Theatre; Dr. Van Helsing- Dracula, Umbrella Center for the Arts; Mother-Passing Strange (Elliot Norton Award nominee) & Radio – Caroline or Change
Moonbox Productions; Sipu- Listen to Sipu, New Repertory Theatre.
Proud Member of Actors Equity @mariaalbertina888

GERALDINE BARNEY

Geraldine Barney’s music explores the relationship between the traditional Navajo values and beliefs she grew up with on the Navajo Reservation in Northwest New Mexico with contemporary city life off the reservation. Living in two cultures is a prominent theme in her music and art.

Geraldine studied the Native American Flute at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. As a singer and songwriter, her work is included in two Smithsonian Folkways CD’s; “Music of New Mexico: Native American Traditions” and “Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women”.

 

MINTY FRESH CIRCUS
Conceived by Monique Martin, Minty Fresh Circus is a US-based circus show performed by an all-Black cast, with a majority-Black creative team celebrating the healing power of Black music & movement, infused with the joy & resilience of those who traversed the transatlantic slave trade.

With an Afro-futuristic vibe and a steam-punk look, Minty Fresh Circus features movement, music, and circus arts in a time-bending journey of redemption.

Inspired by abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s and the survival of generations of African Americans, the central question in Minty Fresh Circus is: what does freedom feel & sound like if your only access to it is through your imagination? The journey explores liberation spaces, oasis spaces, and joy spaces where black & brown bodies have found sovereignty. The show celebrates the power of Black music as a healing, alchemical, transformative force; a ritual, a portal to joy and an invitation to tap into your imagination.

MONIQUE MARTIN
As a propagator of art, culture and ideas, Monique Martin brings her passion and experience in community building through the arts to elevate and instigate. An independent artist, curator, producer and marketing consultant, she has partnered with, produced for and performed @ Joe’s Pub, Disney Theatricals, Apollo Theater, New Victory Theater, Southbank Centre/UK, The Shed, Hip Hop Theater Festival, NJPAC, Queens Theater in the Park and HBO. Monique has created the successful series’ Urban Griots and Soul Erotica for Joe’s Pub and toured them nationally.

Ms. Martin introduced the first international artist – Afro-Swedish MC and Playwright Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakite and expanded commissioning and education programs as the Director of Programming for Harlem Stage 2017 – 2021. As an Independent Creative Producer, she is currently focusing her work on supporting artists in creating new work, consulting with institutions on presenting dynamic socially engaged programming as well as virtual, hybrid and outdoor arts. As an artist she is making her first contemporary circus.

JULIA BACCELLIERI
Julia Baccellieri was born and raised in the Chicago performing arts community and began dancing at age 5. When they were 10, Julia started their circus journey and has not stopped since! Julia’s work is grounded in storytelling with a blend of musicality, unique movement, and a dynamic technique. Julia specializes in dance, trapeze, Chinese pool, hula hoops, and acrobatic dance. They also teach workshops and classes striving to lay a strong foundation for future aerialists and people of color who strive to make a living in circus.