Ümeyr has served as the Director of the Conscious Dance and Live Music Program for Interfusion Festival since 2022. His life passion lies with the technology in each of our bodies, in continued research via somatic practices including yoga, meditation, conscious dance and physical theater. Ümeyr has been dancing Contact Improvisation, Ecstatic Dance and 5Rythms since 2016 and has witnessed the power of conscious dance through his own transformation and growth. Ümeyr organizes contact improvisation jams and has taught contact improvisation in Washington DC since 2021. Ümeyr is motivated to continue to bring forth transformative programming for Interfusion Festival.
With love and passion for dance and connection, Antonietta Alfano (She/They) from Rochester, NY has been a professional dancer within her own company, “BallerinaGoddess Entertainment” for over 20 years with a niche in ballet, interpretive dance, rope and aerial arts. To add to her dance repertoire (15+ styles!), she found a deep love for Kizomba after hearing about the roots and being able to feel the music deeply, especially while leading. Finally, when she found fusion in late 2019, it was recognized that it was mostly about connection and movement regardless of the inability to hear. Living with profound Deafness since birth, she was also nonverbal (until three years old). With this, Antonietta has only known movement and to memorize dance moves as she is able to intensely feel the music. She can almost BECOME the music with visuals of others, vibrations, energy of the dance partner and connecting non-verbally.
Being a Deaf dancer in the hearing dance community, she is always advocating for accessibility, equality, and cultural awareness in the circus, dance and kink communities. Antonietta is so excited to join the Interfusion board as your accessibility coordinator with the experience of coordinating access for other conventions around the nation.
Nicole Bruno (she/her) is an artist, writer, activist, coach, and mother. She strives to divest from grind culture while supporting others on their journey toward personal and collective liberation and joy. As the founder of Ruffled Feathers, a coaching and consulting company that supports the learning and UNlearning of cultural ideologies, her goal is to help people discover how the centering of our needs, wants, and desires facilitates healing and liberation for ourselves, our family, and the global community.
She specializes in DEI skill building for white allies, authentic relating and empathy building, healthy parent-child communication, adult ADHD, pleasure activism, and is a Psychedelic Integration Specialist.
As the Emotional Support Team Lead, she is excited to move from an Interfusion volunteer to supporting a team of highly qualified therapists and coaches to bring further safety, radical space, and joy to the entire community. In her spare time, she enjoys creating art, sitting on the board of her local UU congregation, and participating in the local Burning Man community. Nicole resides in Southern Maryland with her husband, 13-year-old daughter, and eight cats.
As Expo Director, Steph leads the charge in implementing innovative zero-waste practices and integrating sustainable solutions into large-scale events. She’s passionate about crafting unforgettable experiences at expos, and with a deep commitment to minimizing our environmental footprint. Whether it’s sourcing local food-vendors, prioritizing reusable materials, or implementing “Bring Your Own” programs, she’s constantly seeking innovative ways to make sustainability a seamless part of every festival. Steph’s working with us to create an expo that’s not only impactful but kind to the planet!
Verity Rose (she/her), originally from Seattle, WA, now based in Iowa City, IA, is passionate about dance, event organizing, and her 9.5 year old dog, Balou. Her dance journey began at age 3 with tap and ballet, sparking a lifelong passion for movement. For a couple weeks after her first class the first thing she’d ask her mom upon waking up would be, “Am I going to dance class today?” After nine years of training with Gotta Dance Company, she explored Lindy Hop and Balboa, eventually discovering a deep passion for Brazilian Zouk at Bailame festival in 2019.
In August 2021 she moved to Iowa City, and In April 2022 she founded V Rose Productions in order to bring Zouk to the community. Since then, she has successfully hosted over 13 dance weekenders in Iowa City, Fairfield, Des Moines, Chicago, Omaha, and Milwaukee. She prides herself on curating community-, growth-, and heart-centric events that are financially accessible and that gives intentional space for everyone (including featured artists) to take care of themselves.
The profound joy and positive impact she’s experienced from Brazilian Zouk drives her mission to share the art with as many people as possible across the Midwest and beyond through teaching and organizing. She dreams of soon teaching and organizing events and retreats around the world.
Matthew Rivera, also known as DJ MaZ-R, was born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico currently residing in Miami, Florida.Currently, Matthew works as an IT network and systems engineer, which is another of his passions. His travels allowed him to experience a plethora of diverse music styles and dances which further increased his love for music and dance which quickly catapulted him into Djing and teaching dance. As a result, he then began organizing regular dance socials and large weekenders for his local community bringing in both local and international dance instructors and DJs. Leaning on over 15 years in the entertainment business, Matthew has also added photography, videography, and audio installation and preparation to his skillset. He is respected for the uniqueness, experience, and creativity that he brings to any event that he is involved in.
When Kelly Miller first learned of the science of positive psychology, a new world opened up. After the loss of her dear father, she set out to help as many families as possible in learning pathways to strength and happiness. She is the author of the children’s book Jane’s Worry Elephant. With her knowledge in the evidence based strategies of applied positive psychology, Kelly has served organizations like Fairfax County Public Schools and the US Air Force. Kelly continues her mission to serve as many as she can in order to help them find their own pathways to lives that are flourishing. Currently, Kelly is working on a new book discovering the power of the complex emotion of awe.
Ebonie Lee is a Denver-based Brazilian Zouk Lambada dancer, performer & instructor. Ebonie has trained extensively in a variety of dance modalities. Ebonie pursued Japanese Classical, African, Latin, contemporary Indian and Modern dance at Williams College and abroad. She interned at Washington, DC arts organizations such as Dance Exchange and the DC Dance Collective, adding Contemporary, Jazz and Blues dance to her repertoire. She studied Salsa, Mambo and Afro-Latin dance under Tanya Kianda Fiske and Psyon D. Scott.
Ebonie was introduced to Brazilian Zouk by Atoro Lopez in 2010, and started training in DC. In 2012 Ebonie returned to NYC and became teaching assistant to Kim Rottier (ZoukNY), Ry’el & Jessica Lamdon (ZenZouk). Ebonie studied Contact Improvisation with Jesse Johnson (Dancing with Gravity). She moved to Atlanta and taught with a variety of instructors, including Atoro and Eddie Bonnell of Zouk Atlanta. She returned again to NYC in 2020, co-founding the Brooklyn-based dance school Zoukphoria, as well as teaching alongside ZenZouk instructor Shane Rasnak. Now she resides in Denver, working full time in tech and partnering with Zouk events nationally. She serves as Welcoming Director of the Dare to Zouk Program at NYC Zouk Festival and is now honored to take on the role of Director of Brazilian Zouk at Interfusion Festival IX 2024.
Ebonie has completed teacher training and professional development courses by Jaime Aroxa & Kiri Chapman, Kim Rottier, Alex & Mathilde, and Brenda & Anderson.
Ebonie is always interested in Brazilian Zouk Lambada history, as well as other dances of the African Diaspora and conscious movement techniques, incorporating a variety of dance styles into her movement. She believes in the power of dance to connect and communicate, and the nourishment that creativity brings to life.
IG: @ebonie_zouk
FB: facebook.com/eboniezouk
Shalon has been involved in the dance community for over 15 years. Her roots began with salsa and bachata which developed into a passion for Kizomba and UrbanKiz. She has always been enamored with the music, the connection, and the technique needed to properly lead and follow in these dances. Utilizing her lead and follow skills, she eventually became a member of Fem-C, North America’s first all-girl taxi dance team. With the intent to grow her community and share passion for the dance, she has successfully organized, hosted, and co-hosted Kizomba and Urban Kiz weekenders, parties, and bootcamp classes taught by well sought-after international and North American artists. Simultaneously, Shalon also taught regular classes in her own community. Being heavily involved in the dance scene has afforded Shalon additional opportunities to assist in the coordination of volunteers and registration areas at multiple Weekenders. She is often praised for her dedication, seamless ability to find resolutions to problems, and ensuring that volunteers and registration are staffed and running smoothly.
Outside of dance, Shalon has studied psychology for 20 years. Understanding the human mind and how it affects everyday behaviors has been a driving force for her research and academic learnings. She holds an undergraduate degree in general psychology and a post graduate degree in crisis and management psychology. She has been teaching at the collegiate level for over 6 years.