Mario started breaking in 2007 and traveled all around the world with his crew (lionzofzion) to represent their name and country. In 2016, he founded Cypherbreak while living with friends. Since 2020, Cypherbreak has been the name for their open practices held in Brooklyn. Mario created Cypherbreak to preserve his core belief in providing the community with a free, open, and safe space for all breakers.

Quiana Parks is a multifaceted artist who excels in both fine and performance art. As a fine artist, she creates captivating works on canvas, exploring themes of resilience and beauty with her unique style. In her performances, Parks brings her art to life, seamlessly blending music, visuals, and storytelling to create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact on audiences. Whether she’s spinning tracks as a DJ or incorporating live painting into her sets, Parks’s talents transcend traditional boundaries, redefining what it means to be an artist in today’s world.

Papi Juice is an art collective that aims to affirm and celebrate the lives of queer and trans people of color. Structured around curated events, Papi Juice lives at the intersection of art, music, fashion, and nightlife. Since its inception in 2013, the collective has been changing the face of nightlife in New York City and beyond with intentional platforms for artists of color including panels, artist residencies, performances, and, of course, fabled DJ sets and all-night parties. Papi Juice has featured artists and DJs such as Kelsey Lu, Juliana Huxtable, MikeQ, Lady Shaka, Helado Negro, and Yaeji. Papi Juice has also partnered with institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA PS1, Planned Parenthood, Creative Time, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio, and partners like Coach, Opening Ceremony, Twitter, Calvin Klein, and HBO.

DJ Perly is a highly respected Puerto Rican, Bronx-born DJ, turntablist, and producer from New York City. Perly is renowned for her dynamic performances that showcase deep musical knowledge and precise manipulation of music. She made history in 2017 as the first woman to win the DMC US Finals DJ Battle and repeated this feat in 2022, becoming the first and only woman to win two DMC USA National titles. Perly’s achievements include placing fourth in the 2017 DMC World Finals in London, the highest ever for a Woman, and third in the 2022 DMC World Beat Juggle Finals. She is a six-time DMC World Finalist, 2016 DMC NYC Regional Champion, and three-time Freestyle Monday Champion, as well as a member of the Heavy Hitters DJ Crew.

DJ Perly’s success is a true testament to talent, dedication, and perseverance; challenging stereotypes and proving gender is no barrier to excellence. She continues to influence the DJ community globally, promoting inclusivity and diversity. Perly has performed at prestigious venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall, and has performed alongside with legendary DJs like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Skratch Bastid and also opened for influential legendary acts such as De La Soul and Monie Love. Her DJ skills have been featured in Levi’s campaigns, and she’s been recognized with awards including DJane Mag’s Best Scratch DJ Award, a nomination for Global Spin Awards Turntablist of the Year.

Uptown Vinyl Supreme is a DJ collective and community organization born in the Bronx, NYC paying homage to the analog roots of music, party and dance culture. Records have the power to uplift, inspire, and heal the people. Friends and lovers of vinyl, Sunny Cheeba, Buddy, and Josh Hubi take this responsibility seriously and continue to explore progressive ways in which this power can reach audiences all over the world.

A 2023 Bessie Award winner for Outstanding Service to the Field, Michele Byrd-Mcphee is a street dancer, an arts activist, and tireless advocate for girls and women who works to decolonize hip hop culture along gender, sex, and cultural and sociohistorical racial lines. With a BS from Temple University and an MS from Drexel University, Byrd-Mcphee has worked in different sectors of the entertainment industry, having been a production coordinator at Brooklyn Academy of Music and a senior music coordinator at Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Awarded the 2020 Integrated Arts Residency Fellowship at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Byrd-McPhee created and taught her course Hip Hop, Women, and the World. Byrd-McPhee has also served as a grant panelist for the prestigious McKnight Foundation, DanceNYC, and served as a voting member of the Bessie Award Committee. Presently, Byrd-McPhee continues her 20-year commitment as executive director for Ladies of Hip-Hop and artistic director of LDC (LOHH Dance Collective).

Marcus Logan is a multidisciplinary brand architect, music producer and DJ with a passion for polyphonic rhythms and deep grooves in the keys of broken beat, baile funk, jazz, soul, funk, world, and house music.

Ivan “Shie” Moreno was born in Centro Habana, immersed in the vibrant rhythms of Cuban music and dance. His upbringing sparked a lifelong passion for Afro-Cuban musical traditions, leading him to establish Clave Y Cuba, the only nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and documenting Afro-Cuban music across the Cuban Diaspora. In 2021, Ivan formed Clave Y Cuba’s New York–based collective of the culture’s leading musicians and dancers.

Known as “El Pintor” in the New York rumba community, Moreno combines his musical prowess with a deep visual art career. Moreno remains a dedicated musician, artist, and cultural leader committed to sharing the richness of Afro-Cuban musical traditions with global audiences.

Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, renowned as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed rumba groups in history, hails from Matanzas, Cuba. Founded in the 1950s, this legendary ensemble has preserved and elevated Afro-Cuban rumba traditions through their captivating performances worldwide. Their music resonates with the deep cultural roots of Matanzas, known as the “Athens of Cuba” for its rich artistic heritage.

For over half a century, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas has enchanted audiences with its iconic sound and complex choreography. They are celebrated not only for their mastery of traditional rumba styles—such as yambú, guaguancó, and columbia—but also for their stylistic approaches that bridge past and present.

Sean Billy Kizy, RA, is a queer Middle Eastern American artist, architect, and large-scale art fabrication specialist. They founded Neon Fab Studios to support artists to realize their work on a large-scale while expanding their personal community driven artistic practice.

A Bronx native, Qu One has been writing graffiti for over 30 years, and also makes music as Qu.One. Qu One was born in the late ‘70s and grew up in the Bronx, home of the famous “Morris Park Crew” graffiti crew. It was a classic NYC “melting pot” neighborhood, where everyone’s parents came from other places and kids roamed the streets. After seeing graffiti everywhere growing up and trying it out for himself, he was hooked. Qu One sprayed his first paint tag at 12 and hasn’t looked back. Fine tuning his craft, he has made friends globally and is part of worldwide graffiti crews such as KTC, IMOK, TFS, and SW. You can also find Qu.One on all streaming platforms, as he also produces original music in various styles.

A native of Detroit, Rakia Seaborn is a writer, choreographer, educator, and performer whose work has appeared at JACK, Dixon Place, La Mama E.T.C., The Tank, AUNTS, chashama, and Brooklyn Studios for Dance. Seaborn has worked with Kathy Westwater, Dianne McIntyre, Rashaun Mitchell, Jodi Melnick, and Meta-Phys Ed. She graduated from Oberlin College in 2007, earning a BA in dance with a concentration in choreography, and in 2014, she gained an MFA in dance from Sarah Lawrence College. Seaborn teaches movement for Trinity College’s Experimental Performing Arts Program at La Mama, Etc as well as Dance History Through A Political Lens and MFA Thesis Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a 2018 Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Creative Stipend recipient. Seaborn’s latest work, A RUIN, had its world premiere at JACK in May of 2022.