Melissa Alexis (Choreographer) is proud to be choreographing this production of Black Odyssey Boston by The Front Porch, Underground Railway Theater, and Central Square Theater. Melissa choreographs to make the inherent therapeutic properties of movement visible, and project on stages our collective healing and liberation. A first generation Trinidadian immigrant, her movement is rooted in the intersection between African and Western perspectives, as well as social justice, sustainability, and mindfulness studies. Melissa’s Afro-fusion dance works have been presented as part of Brooklyn-based The Creators Collective, and at Boston Center for the Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, Tufts University, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, Smith College Department of Theatre, Wheelock College Center for Race Amity, and as a ritual healing practice, at many public and historic spaces, among them, Arlington Street Church with Black Lives Matter Boston, Myrtle Baptist Church, and Museum of Fine Arts. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and when not presenting dance, she facilitates cross-sector applications of dance and mindfulness through her organization, Cultural Fabric and the Healing Arts Institute program. FB & IG: @culturalfab
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Allyssa Jones
Allyssa Jones (Musical/Choral Director) makes her Underground Railway Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective debut with black odyssey boston. An inaugural recipient of The Boston Foundation’s Live Arts Boston grant, Allyssa has composed original music, and provided music direction and/or sound design for Company One (Revolt. She Said. Revolt, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation, Grimm/Cry Baby Jones, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992), Speakeasy Stage (School Girls), Lyric Stage Company (Intimate Apparel, Mr. Burns, The Wiz), Apollinaire Theatre Company (Invasion/¡Bocón!, Peggy Pickett Sees the Face of God), TC Squared Theatre Company (Everyman), Boston Public Works (Turtles), OWLL Theatre Company (Hidden Faces of Courage), and Riverside Theatre Works (Les Misérables). Notable projects include an original score for the film Knockaround Kids (ADEkoje Filmwerks) and her own musical The Puppet Show. In addition to her theatrical work, Allyssa is a singer/songwriter with five solo releases and over two decades of appearances under her belt. Keep up with Ms. Jones at MsJonesMusic.com and JonesCNC.com.
Phyllis Y Smith
Nadine Grant
Akili Jamal Haynes
Multi-instrumentalist, Akili Jamal Haynes, has performed with Illinois Jacquet (Swing), Lester Bowie (Mixed genres), Wynton Marsalis (New Orleans), Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (Mixed genres), McCoy Tyner (Modern Bebop), the Mingus Big Band (Bebop), Nana Kimati Dinizulu (Ghana), Lenny Kravitz (Funk/Rock), Stephen Scott (Bebop), Lamine Toure & Group Saloum (Senegales Sabar/Mbalax), Sidi Muhammed Camara (Mali), Isaura Oliveira (Bahia Brazil), Sory Diabote (Mali), Fred Woodard Collective (Bebop/Mixed genres), Taina Asili (Puerto Rico), Fulani Haynes (Bebop/Mixed Genres), and Stan Strickland (Mixed Genres), among others. Akili is cultivating his multi-genre band called A Slice of P.A.I. (Positive African Images), which combines the ancient rhythms of the African continent with Funk, Rhythm and Blues, Hip-Hop, and Bebop. With the diverse backgrounds and musical histories of it’s personnel, the group is able to authentically infuse the many rhythmic creations and genres of Africans around the world into one sweet healing sound. PAI is a group that concentrates on creating original music and presenting the works of composers of African ancestry. PAI has performed concerts and lecture demonstrations for communities and schools in the Greater Boston Area. Most recently supporting the Green House Growers of the Dudley Greenhouse, bringing music to students of the Martin Luther King School and participating in a Community Music Center of Boston sponsored music festival called Feté de la Musique. P.A.I. is currently working on a multi-media project called Metamorphosis of the Blues and a feature film called Becoming Chibuzo, which tells the story of Akili Jamal Haynes, a child prodigy, forced to play trombone, who puts it down to pursue the dreams of his youth.