Choreographer
Donna Sternberg
Donna Sternberg, Artistic Director for Donna Sternberg & Dancers, and founder of AWE & WONDER, has professionally premiered over 100 works since 1975 throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Mexico; frequently collaborating with artists of other disciplines as well as scientists. Her work has been commissioned by institutions such as the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, California Science Center, festivals, schools and dance companies. She participated in the 2016 Venice Biennale, was chosen for the first artist/science residency at Djerassi, received the Artist-in-Community award from the Santa Monica Arts Foundation, is featured in the documentary LA Woman, published in the journal Leonardo (MIT Press), featured on KCET’s Life and Times program and is the recipient of numerous grants. She has been a guest artist for many years at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico and served on the Santa Monica Arts Commission.
SCIENTISTS
devavani chatterjea
Devavani Chatterjea, is an immunologist, educator, and activist for STEM justice. Her research examines the connections between toxic environmental exposures and chronic pain. She has built interdisciplinary programs in public health and neuroscience at Macalester College where she is a tenured professor of biology. Chatterjea has collaborated with artists and choreographers on projects examining complex systems memory, disruptive change, and planetary health through the lens of inflammation and healing. More recently, she has served as an advisor on global health and environmental justice to federal policymakers. Her work has been published in numerous journals, presented at conferences such as the annual American Association of Immunologists, Stanford University and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden and on radio. Chatterjea has received many awards and honors such as the Richard Bond Memorial Scholar from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Kathy Sanders-Phillips
Dr. Kathy Sanders-Phillips, has done extensive research examining the psychological and biological consequences of gender/racial/ethnic discrimination resulting in trauma and how social exclusion may create and foster cycles of disadvantage. Her research has been significantly influenced by previous findings on intergenerational trauma indicating that social isolation marginalization can be enduring and may persist from one generation to the next and include greater violence exposure as both victims and perpetrators. She has concentrated primarily on communities of color both in the US and Africa. Her research will help inform and guide Sternberg both in the planning for the workshops and in material that can be used to create the dance/theatre work. Sanders-Phillips has been on the faculty of Howard University, UCLA and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
THERAPIST
Mastaneh Moghadam
Mastaneh Moghadam, LCSW, co-founder and executive director of Cross-Cultural Expressions, Sherman Oaks, CA, provides psychotherapy, supervision, and oversees grant development for the Community Counseling Center, focusing on immigrant, refugee, and underserved populations. She facilitates multicultural counseling trainings for organizations like the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and Pars Equality Center, and has served on various mental health committees. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked extensively with the Iranian LGBTQ community and produced films addressing mental health issues within Russian and Persian-speaking ethnic communities.
SOUND HEALING PRACTITIONER
Jasmine Goldford
Jasmine Goldford is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and sound healing practitioner based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in New York to Iranian immigrant parents, she faced early life challenges that shaped her deep understanding of healing and personal transformation.
Jasmine specializes in a holistic, body-centered approach to therapy, helping clients process emotions through the body and develop a deeper, more compassionate relationship with themselves. Integrating somatic experiencing, mindfulness, and sound healing, she supports individuals in creating a sense of safety within their bodies, allowing them to release stored trauma, reduce anxiety, and cultivate inner resilience. Her practice emphasizes reconnecting with the body’s wisdom as a pathway to healing, self-trust, and personal growth.
POET
Carol V. Davis
Carol V. Davis, is the author of several of poetry books and included in numerous poetry anthologies. Her poetry has been read on National Public Radio, the Library of Congress and Radio Russia. She has received many honors including two Fullbright scholarships, the 2007 T.S. Eliot Prize for Into the Arms of Pushkin: Poems of St. Petersburg, a Fulbright Specialist grant, the Sandburg-Auden-Stein Poet-in-Residence at Olivet College, MI and the Barbara Deming Memorial/Money for Women grant. She was chosen as a collaborator because her evocative poetry is often centered on her Jewish history, identity and experience. Carol will contribute both old and new poetry for the project and will work with Sternberg to weave her poetry into the fabric of the dance/theatre work.
DRAMATURGE
Julie Bour
Julie Bour, is the MFA program director at Cal Arts School of Dance. She founded her company, The Flying Mammoth, in 2006 and has created work for her company as well as for renowned companies such as Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Joffrey Concert group as well as schools including Alvin Ailey School and universities and theater companies in America and Europe. She is a graduate from the Conservatoire National of Paris, recipient of the 1997 Bessie Award and has danced with companies such as Ballet Preljocaj, Inbal Pinto as well as Julie Taymor and a variety of international choreographers and directors. She has taught at numerous places such as Julliard, Alvin Ailey, Ballet Preljocaj, Steps on Broadway, Joffrey Ballet School and LA Dance Project. She has been as assistant to Angelin Preljocaj since 2007. Julie serves as the dramaturge for this project, assisting in the creation of the work and uniting the elements of poetry, text and dance.
Musicians
Carisa Bianca Mellado & Andrew Dalziell
Los Angeles based composition, songwriting, and orchestration duo Carisa Bianca Mellado and Andrew Dalziell have been working together in a musical partnership since 2016 based on shared aesthetics and a love of film, experimental art and mythology.
Carisa is an accomplished singer with a 4 Octave vocal range, her voice traverses many genres and styles, from pop to metal and opera and she is also an accomplished electronic musician, bass player, pianist, mixer, and producer.
Andrew is a Los Angeles based Australian composer and songwriter. He is a graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in cello, percussion, and guitar.
Together they have scored many short films, operas, plays and feature films. Some recent credits include the feature Kapō, produced by Chelsea Winstanley (Jojo Rabbit); Pea'hi, a coming of age feature starring legendary pro surfer, Kai Lenny; the documentary, Nature Humaine, Pele Pictures; the award winning short film Miniature Life directed by Stevie Cavalier, and french short film, Une Promenade Gâchée directed by Michael Salerno.
They also write and perform songs in their darkwave art band Night Tongue, they are founders and hosts of The Night Temple events, conference, and podcast, and are producing the documentary ‘The Power of Sad Music.’"