Victoria Lefler is a first-year MFA in dance candidate on the performance track. She graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a BS in dance and history. While pursuing her undergraduate degrees, Victoria has performed works by Omar Olivas, Kristin Best-Kinscherff, Geoffrey Alexander, and Lindsay Hawkins. She has also had intensive training from Backhaus Dance Company in California. In addition to performing, Victoria choreographs for dance studios and colleges; her choreography has even been featured at the American College Dance Association regional conference.

Busisiwe Mahlangu (poet, playwright, fiction writer; South Africa) is the author of Surviving Loss, a 2018 poetry collection also adapted for theater. She was awarded the inaugural South Africa National Poetry Prize, has had work longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award, and is published in Kalahari, Atlanta Review, 20.35 Africa, Best ‘New’ African Poets, and elsewhere. In 2022, she was a fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.