Dancing Futures Residency, 2026
Dancing Futures Residency is an annual project created by partners Pepatián and BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance which provides professional development opportunities for three NYC-based early career dance artists of color and/or emerging Bronx-based dance artists.
THE ARTISTS
JEEVIKA BHAT
Jeevika Bhat is an East Harlem based dancer and choreographer who explores the confluence of her cultures through a Contemporary/Indian-American medium. Her technical background is in Odissi, an East Indian classical dance form known for its nuanced storytelling and graceful fluidity, which she studies under the guidance of Guru Jyoti Rout. Academically, she is a graduate of UC San Diego, where she earned a BS in Mathematics with minors in Linguistics and Dance, and UC Irvine, where she earned an MFA in Dance.
photo: Greg Crosby
ZAINAB FLOYD
Zainab Floyd is a Haitian and African American interdisciplinary artist born and based in New York. She is interested in utilizing poetry, film, sound and movement as a map for connecting the body and mind to the historical legacy of rebellion. She is the founder and artistic director of Caribbean Archive. A curatorial project dedicated towards providing free and accessible programs that center Black Caribbean women and femme artists who have created a scholarship of work that is representative of agency and resistance. Zainab is invested in themes of the Caribbean, Black feminism, and resistance. History is the beating drum behind Zainab's work. Rooted in archival research, Zainab explores Caribbean movement's such as Gwoka, and Yanvalou.
photo: Muhammad Floyd
photo: Annelise Eileraas
WENDY POWELL
Wendy Ann Powell is a New York-based dancer, actor, choreographer, playwright, director, performer, and disability advocate who has taught internationally in both Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Her work explores Black generational memory, spiritual resilience, and embodied healing. She holds an MFA in Dance from Hunter College and an MS in Educational Theatre from City College of New York. Rooted in diasporic movement traditions, her choreography blends ritual, rhythm, improvisation, and storytelling to create spaces for emotional release and communal transformation. Her current work Bound will be presented through the MODArts Dance Collective at Harlem School of the Arts. Wendy Ann is currently working on the premiere of her dance company, The Journey Project for Dance and Theatre Arts which dedicates itself to using dance as a healing modality for coping with mental health and wellness.
May 30 2026 MEET THE ARTISTS
A work in progress showing at the beginning of the residency, this public event also included writers reading their essays from 2024 and 2025.
MENTORS
ADITI DHRUV
mentor for Jeevika Bhat
MAIMA THE WATER SPIRIT
mentor for Zainab Floyd
mentors for Wendy Powell
REBECCA GUAL, JOYA POWELL
WRITERS & EDITOR
SARAH CECILIA BUKOWSKI
EDITOR
Aakash Kesavarapu
writer for Jeevika Bhat
Houreidja Tall
writer for Zainab Floyd
writer for Wendy Powell