Artists
Cohort 2
Kalikopuanoheaokalani Aiu
Mahu, Bakla, Transmasc, Student of oli & hula, Performer, Choreographer, Astrologer, Painter, Writer
ʻO Kalikopuanoheaokalani Aiu koʻu inoa. No Moku Honu mai au, a noho ma Oʻahu i keia manawa. ʻO Kaʻala kuʻu mauna, ʻo Honua kuʻu kahawai, ʻo Awawamalu a me Makapuʻu kuʻu kahakai. My name is Kaliko - I was raised on Turtle Island; from my father’s side I am Kānaka Maoli, Filipino, Chinese, and Portuguese, and from my mother’s side I am Greek and English. I belong to Kaʻala mountain and Honua stream, and I am guided by the sands and waters of Ithanki, Awawamalu, Makapuʻu, Nanakuli, and Makua. These are the places that claim me; these are the places that articulate my truths. I work part time in healthcare with MVPFAFF and transgender individuals; and I dance to care for my health and the health of the communities I am part of and who are part of me. I am a student of oli, a kiaʻi ʻāina of many forms.
Sean-Joseph Takeo Kahāokalani Choo
Playwright, Performer, Gardener of Worlds, New Work/Play Development Facilitator
Sean is a mixed, queer Native Hawaiian playwright, performer, and gardener of worlds. He seeks, preserves, and creates stories of the unheard, unseen, and unknown — particularly where queerness, religion, and culture intersect and collide in stories born of and belonging to Hawaiʻi. He is the Lead Steward + Head Jester of Kamamo House, a Honolulu-based queer theater and new work development māla. His practice moves between playwriting, composition, and clowning. His current work includes Kaheananui: Memories of the Dead, a site-specific clown ceremony at Pūowaina exploring land, sovereignty, and the relationship between the living and the dead. An Emmy Award winner and O'Neill finalist, his credits include the One Year Lease International Residency, Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, Shangri La's 8x8: Source, the Kumu Kahua Theatre premiere of his play Beretania Snapshots, the Native American Artist Lab at The Playwrights Realm, and Creative Lab Hawaiʻi.
Kealoha Ferreira
Dance Artist, Educator, Administrator, Kamaʻāina of Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu now residing in Mni Sóta Maķoce, land of the Daķota Oyáte
Kealoha is a Kanaka Maoli, Filipino, Chinese dance artist from Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu, now residing in Mni Sóta Maķoce on the lands of the Daķhóta Oyáte. She is the Artistic Associate of Ananya Dance Theatre and a Co-leader of the Shawngrām Institute for Performance & Social Justice in St Paul. Activated through ADT’s transnational feminist technique, Yorchhā, and a gradual study of Oli and Hula, Kealoha's artistry and leadership investigates the expansive interstices of relationality while remaining rooted in cultural and kinesthetic rigor. Kealoha is a McKnight Dancer Fellow (2024) and selected artist for St. Paul & Minnesota Foundationʻs Art in This Present Moment Initiative (2025). Her artistry and activism have deepened through opportunities such as Chawrchā NextGen ChoreoLab (2023), Stages of Equity (2023), BIPOC Leadership Circle (2022), Hālau ʻŌhiʻa (2021), Red Eye Theater’s Works in Progress (2020), and now Wehiwehi.
Nawahineokalaʻi Lanzilotti
Sound + Multimedia Performing Artist, Director, from Mānoa, Oʻahu
Nawahine is a musician, multi-media performer, and director from Mānoa, Oʻahu whose performances and collaborations feature cello, voice, sound objects, electronics, poetry, and movement. Her work explores energy shifting through land, sky, ocean, and the body. Nawahine founded and runs the nonprofit Pulse Oceania. Pulse Oceania is an indigenous performance incubator dedicated to advancing health equity and economic independence in Hawaiʻi through experimental creative practice rooted in aloha ʻāina, focusing on Pacific Island collaboration. To support this work, Nawahine was named a 2024-25 Collective of Health Leadership Institute fellow, supported by the National Collaborative for Health Equity and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nawahine is a 2026 First Peoples Fund Native Performing Arts Fellow and a 2026 Wehiwehi Fellow.
Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
Artist, Organizer, Educator
Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a Kanaka Maoli wahine artist / activist / scholar / educator / storyteller born and raised in Pālolo Valley, Hawaiʻi. She is an Associate Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi, an internationally recognized poet, subject of an award-winning film, This is the Way we Rise, Co-writer of the VR film On the Morning You Wake (To the end of the world), and author of the award winning book Remembering our Intimacies: Moʻolelo, Aloha ʻĀina, and Ea. She believes in the power of aloha ʻāina and collective action to pursue liberatory, decolonial, and abolitionist futures of abundance.
Kalia Vandever
Trombonist, Composer, Educator living in New York
Kalia (they/them) is a trombonist and composer living in New York. Praised by AllMusic as “a master musician and composer” and “a singular talent,” Vandever’s approach to the trombone is distinctive, defined by their sonorous tone and lyrical voicing. They lean into the challenges of the instrument and allow patience and melody to guide their process. Vandever’s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down, boasting a compositional scope ranging from the palatial modern jazz of their quartet work (notably featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson) to the synthetic, gauze-like droning ambience of their solo material, their compositional practice draws from their love of both songs and improvisation, creating a landscape of sounds that resonate in the body and hold the listener. This dexterity has not gone unnoticed, with The Wire asserting, “Vandever has never sounded more assured and in control of their many strengths.”
Cohort 1
Anthony Aiu
Co-Founder/Artistic Director, Te Ao Mana
From O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, Anthony Aiu is an artist, dancer, choreographer, and cultural organizer whose work draws from his rich Polynesian ancestry. He earned his MFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where he created eight original works and co-authored A Choreographic Workbook with mentor Kazuko Hirabayashi. Aiu founded ‘Avei‘a in 2008 and co-founded Te Ao Mana in 2016 to expand visibility and representation for Pacific Island artists. His work has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow, La MaMa, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Movement Research, Judson Church, and the Hawai‘i Triennial, among many others. He has performed with TAKE Dance, Dzul, Merce Cunningham, American Ballet Theatre, and Paris Opera Ballet. Aiu is the creator of Tatou Festival in New York City and Mana Manahata, initiatives centering Ta‘ata Moana Nui voices. He is an AIP Native Launchpad artist, and currently developing Dance Suite from Lili’u Opera, a physical depiction of the imprisonment of Hawaii’s Queen Lili’uokalani, and Walking Rocks, an evening-length work honoring Indigenous guardians of Moana Nui, protecting ancestral knowledge, culture, and environmental stewardship.
Pele Bauch
Kanaka Maoli Choreographer, Performer, residing in Lenapehoking, also known as New York, NY.
Pele is an interdisciplinary choreographer who weaves dance, theater, and installation design into unique performances. With modern dance as her base, Bauch’s experimental work draws from the visual arts and her studies in oli (Hawaiian chant) and hula. She was honored to be selected for the inaugural Wehiwehi cohort and 2023 Western Arts Alliance Native Launchpad. Bauch’s work has been selected for presentation at many New York venues, La MaMa, Chocolate Factory, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Women in Motion, and more. Her evening-length solo “A.K.A. Ka Inoa” (also known as the name) premiered at La MaMa in April 2022. She has received residencies from the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Joyce Theater Foundation, and Dance Theater Workshop. Funders include the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Brooklyn Arts Council and Harkness Foundation for Dance. Pele resides in her hometown, New York City, on the unceded land of the Lenape people. pelebauch.org
Moses Goods
a Honolulu based Playwright and Actor, originally from the island of Maui, Now residing in manoa.
Originally from the island of Maui, Moses is one of Hawaiʻi’s most prominent theatre artists. His vast body of work reflects his exploration of his identity as Native Hawaiian, Black and Queer. In a career that spans over 25 years Moses has portrayed unforgettable characters on stage and on screen. As a playwright he has written thirteen full length plays and dozens of short theatrical storytelling pieces. His one-man-shows, which have toured throughout the Hawaiian Islands as well as the Continental United States include “My Name is ʻŌpūkahaʻia” and “DUKE”, an unforgettable portrayal of the life of legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku. Moses is also a television actor and can currently be seen guest starring in the FOX series “Rescue: Hi-Surf”. Later this year Moses will portray the chief Keʻeaumoku in “Chief of War” a new series for Apple TV.
Leilehua Lanzilotti
Kanaka Maoli composer and multimedia artist whose works explore dramatic expanses of color and timbre, engaging with themes of place, displacement, and layered time.
Leilehua is a composer and multimedia artist whose works engage with themes of place, displacement, and layered time. Lanzilotti was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Music for "with eyes the color of time," which the committee called, “a vibrant composition . . . that distinctly combines experimental string textures and episodes of melting lyricism.” Other prestigious honors include a Creative Capital Award, NACF SHIFT Award, and recognition as a 2025 USA Fellow. In fall 2025 Lanzilotti’s “luminous new piece” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker), of light and stone opened the New York Philharmonic’s season and Gustavo Dudamel’s first concert as the orchestra’s Music & Artistic Director designate. As a recording artist, Lanzilotti has played on albums from Björk's Vulnicura Live and Joan Osborne's Love and Hate, to David Lang’s anatomy theater. Lanzilotti also premiered and recorded Dai Fujikura’s Viola Concerto, "Wayfinder," as a soloist with the Nagoya Philharmonic.
Patrick Makuakāne
Kumu Hula, Choreographer, Director, Performer, residing on Ramaytush, Ohlone Land, also known as San Francisco, CA
Patrick is a kumu hula, choreographer, director and performer that crisscrosses between tradition and innovation. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Patrick trained with two of Hawaiʻi’s most revered hula masters, Robert Uluwehi Cazimero and Mae Kamāmalu Klein. He is the Founder and Director of the Hawaiian dance company and cultural community, Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu. While a passionate exponent of traditional hula, his artistry also crafts a provocative treatment of tradition that leaps forward in surprising and meaningful ways. In 2023, he was the first Native Hawaiian to receive a MacArthur Fellowship—one of the most presitigous awards given in the United States to individuals who exemplify extraordinary creativity, inspire others, have the courage to challenge and disrupt systems when necessary. Most recently he directed and choreographed the the first major opera in Hawaiian language, Kamalehua: The Sheltering Tree.
Christopher Kaui Morgan
Kanaka Maoli Choreographer, Performer, Facilitator, Arts Administrator, Educator residing on Kumeyaay Land , also known as San Diego, CA.
Christopher (he/him) is a choreographer, performer, educator, facilitator, curator, and arts administrator. Known for advocating for cultural integrity, inclusivity, and diverse representation in the studio, onstage, and in decision making rooms-his Native Hawaiian ancestry and international performance career deeply inform his work. He creates performances blending dance, storytelling, music, and multimedia design to explore identity and culture. His choreography has been presented in 22 countries across five continents with support from Creative Capital, Dance/USA, the National Performance Network, the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and two NEFA National Dance Project Production Grants. In 2024 he became Artistic Director of Malashock Dance, leading its transformation from a founder-driven to a community-centered mission. In 2025 he founded Wehiwehi, a solidarity and support program for Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) performing artists at the intersection of indigeneity and contemporary performance. He founded Christopher K. Morgan & Artists in 2011, the same year Dance Magazine named him one of six breakout U.S. choreographers. Christopher continues to direct both dance companies while developing a new organizational model that will house all of this work. Since 2006 Morgan has directed Art Omi: Dance, an international residency in New York where he designed its unique approach to cross-cultural collaboration and peer to peer mentorship. In 2026 he will celebrate 20 years of leading this program with a special alumni celebration. Morgan previously led the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's programming (2022–23) and served as Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C. (2017–21) and has taught at American University, the University of Maryland, and over 25 other institutions. He serves on the boards of the National Performance Network, Western Arts Alliance, San Diego Art Matters, and is a President Biden appointed member of the National Council on the Arts. Born in Orange County, he lives on Kumeyaay land in San Diego with his husband, opera director Kyle Lang.
T.J. Keanu Tario/ Laritza labouche
composer, pianist, and Hawaiian cultural practitioner by day, and ballroom vogue drag artist by night.
A native of Oʻahu, T.J. is a kanaka maoli classical pianist, film composer, cultural practitioner by day, and drag artist by night. A graduate of The Juilliard School, and California Institute of the Arts. Their compositions have been performed by ensembles including the New York Youth Symphony & the Attacca String Quartet. Performances for the concert stage include “Capriccio” for One Piano - Four Hands, commissioned by the Aloha International Piano Festival, and premiered by Lisa Nakamichi & Jon Nakamatsu (Gold Medalist at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.) T.J. was a part-time faculty at The University of Southern California. Workshopping a newly composed musical regarding the overthrow and imprisonment of our Queen Liliʻuokalani. The musical was a recent semi-finalist of the Eugene O’Neil National Musical Theatre Conference and is still in the process of being edited and one day produced. Past performances this season include performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concert No. 2 in drags with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, and through the LIFT Native Arts & Cultures Foundation fellowship premiered Hawaiian Ballet “E aha ia ana ʻO Mauna Kea” at the Leeward Community College Theatre - a work that brings continued awareness to the Protect Mauna Kea movement. Current exhibit premiers include the 8x8: Source exhibit at the Shangri La Museum Doris Duke Foundation. More of T.J.’s music can be found at www.lalamusicstudio.com and @laritzalabouche