Erin Kilmurray (she/they) is a dance artist creating genre-straddling, femme-forward performance work that demands aliveness and collectivity on stage, in studio, and with audiences. They facilitate a dance and community practice that relentlessly explores the celebrations and liberations of women, queer folks, the underground, and the underdog. Her work embraces mess, play, pleasure, spectacle, DIY sensibilities, and lessons in how arbitrary the line between artist and audience can be. Erin is recognized with a 2024 US Artist Fellowship, 2023 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, 2023 Links Hall Co-MISSION Fellowship, 2020 Chicago Dancemakers Lab Artist, and one of 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago (2023; Newcity). She is the creator / director of legendary queer punk dance and variety performance project The Fly Honey Show, (est.2010) -- which has grown to be featured at Lollapalooza, sell out iconic music venue Thalia Hall, and be named a “Chicago institution” (Chicago Reader).

Ginger Krebs (she/her) began as an artist by making sculptures but an interest in networks and relationship dynamics led her to want to enact systems through movement – and so she’s been making dances since 2005. Her dance draws from vernacular movement that non-dancers can relate to. Its physicality and self-effacing humor celebrate Midwestern working-class virtues. Often the movement is inherently funny without having an obvious joke to “get.” Ginger’s performances are preoccupied with power, and haunted by the ways power hides behind the mirages of capitalist ideology while enforcing visibility on other bodies. The dancers respond to spatial constraints, behavioral rules, and to the fundamentally exposed condition of live performance. The humble material that results becomes complex, layered choreography that updates 1970’s formalism by complicating it with power and desire while celebrating the ingenious ways that people survive and defy violence and exploitation.

With collaboration at its core, Ishti Collective is dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for cultural expression through dance, storytelling, and artistic collaboration. The collective builds community, fosters cross-cultural connections, and celebrates the richness of diverse traditions. Founded in 2016 by Preeti Veerlapati (she/her) and Kinnari Vora (she/her), Ishti has produced works like Sparsh, Prakriti I & II, Indo-Ruska Romani Dance Journey, Sparsh and Antarabhava. Their performances have been showcased at the Going Dutch Festival, Pivot Arts Festival, Elevate Chicago, Chicago Park District, and more. Ishti's works have been supported by DCASE and the Illinois Arts Council, creating a lasting impact through socially relevant, artistic exploration.

Mike D. Chicago (he/him), raised on the South Side, is a man of many gifts and has been blessed to apply them all through his work. From singing, dancing, rapping, instructing, mentoring, producing, and choreographing Mike creates for impact. As a dance performer, educator, and choreographer, Mike D has worked with many platforms such as Apple, Nike, Red Bull, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Sky, Chance the Rapper, Lollapalooza, Rolling Loud, the NBA All-Star Game, Good Morning America, and Yale University. As a musician, his music has inspired across the globe, with his single, Claim It, becoming a favorite for many. Mike D is also the Chicago program manager for the nonprofit Creative Netwerk, an organization with the mission to inspire, educate and build community through dance culture.