Mackenzee Albert is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Iowa pursuing a Dance BFA and a Chemistry BA. In the UI dance program, they have trained primarily in release-based modern techniques, contemporary, ballet, and improvisation. Mackenzee has also performed in UI Dance Gala with the choreographers Armando Duarte (2020, 2022), Mindy Myers (2021), and FLOCK (2022). In addition to performing, they have also created dance works that premiered at the university including the recent Articulate particulates- a piece infused with their love for chemistry. Outside of the University of Iowa, Mackenzee has trained with Common Conservatory and Hubbard Street in Chicago, IL as well as Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, WA.

Jaruam Xavier is a Brazilian candidate pursuing an MFA in Dance with a focus on Choreography at the University of Iowa. With a wealth of experience as a dancer, he has showcased in various countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Uruguay, the United States, and Brazil. As a choreographer, he has delved into the exploration of Anthropophagic Body Formation, a metaphor he employs to illustrate the assimilation of knowledge through the embodiment of dance and cultural hybridity. His works bear the influence of Candomblé, Capoeira, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, evident in their distinctive traits. Within the university community, Jaruam has been actively involved as a teaching assistant for the Brazilian Cultural and Carnival course, sharing his expertise and passion. He has also been invited as a guest presenter for courses like Performing Power/Performing Protest and African Caribbean Dance Practices. As a somatic form, he teaches yoga at the university and local yoga studio.

Tzveta Sofronieva Цвета Софрониева (poet, fiction writer, playwright, essayist; Germany/Bulgaria), a physicist and historian of science by training, is the author of over 20 books, including Multiverse (2020), a collection of new and selected poems written originally in German, Bulgarian and English and A Hand Full of Water (2012), translated from the German, the recipient of a 2009 PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant and the 2012 Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation. Her poetry has been translated into 19 languages; her theater work has been supported by Bulgaria’s National Cultural Fund. She participates courtesy of the Max Kade Foundation.