Kevin is a director, actor, educator, and former professional soccer player whose work centers ensemble-driven process, identity-conscious storytelling, and equitable creative practice.

During his CRITICAL BREAKS residency, Kevin will continue developing The Line, a solo play in which one performer embodies both a father and son — one a famed police officer and the other a passionate social justice advocate – as their relationship comes to a head during the shooting of an unarmed Black man. Rather than presenting a story of hero and villain, The Line centers two men trying to understand one another. The work explores the tensions between family, policing, social justice, and the ways we attempt to understand the people closest to us.

Elinor Kleber Diggs(They/Them), currently based in Harlem, New York, is an interdisciplinary artist and choreographer from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

During Elinor’s CRITICAL BREAKS Residency, they will continue to develop DUEL, an evening-length duet that transforms conflict into a catalyst for meaning-making and connection. This movement-based diptych investigates how moments of significant tension eventually give way to clarity. 

This piece interweaves movement, spoken text, household items, and projection to construct a world that is both familiar and disquieting. Imagine walking through your home only to find that every piece of furniture has shifted slightly to the left or rotated counterclockwise a few degrees—subtle yet disorienting shifts in an otherwise familiar space.

Anchi Moon. A name discovered in a dream, carried gently by the wind between worlds. Born as Ching-I Chang, a name lovingly gifted by a beloved grandfather, Anichi walks through life with wonder in heart and songs in soul.

During Anichi’s CRITICAL BREAKS Residency, they will continue the development of Oceans Between Our Names, deepening its exploration of migration, diaspora memory, and the body’s relationship to displacement. Through repetition, imbalance, and suspension, the piece examines how memory mutates, survives, and transmits across generations. Embracing a low-tech aesthetic, it blends physical embodiment, sound, and visual design to transform the space into a shifting landscape of passage and separation. Oceans Between Our Names invites audiences into quiet acts of witness, reflecting on personal histories and the courage required for transformation. 

Maleek Rae is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit’s Eastside.
As a Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, Maleek will develop GUTTAH PART II: ecdysis, the second installment of the trilogy series set in Detroit that reframes life in the hood as one of royalty, spirit, and ceremony. The work employs music and movement to explore Black bloodlines, family, transness, and transformation. During their Hi-ARTS residency, Maleek will focus on developing Part II, deepening music as a foundational ceremonial practice.

Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Luz Lorenzana Twigg is a playwright, dramaturg, doula, and folk herbalist. Her practice explores diasporic identity, ritual, theatre as a living archive, as well as ancestral healing as the gateway for reimagined theatrical pedagogy and praxis.

Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Nikhil Mahapatra is a multi-disciplinary writer based in Brooklyn. They write about queerness/race/power/family/non-family/existence/politics, but most of all, where grief and joy meet together, which, as one audience member once said, had “mixed results, but I guess I liked it”.

Reynaldo Piniella (he/him) is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. As a CRITICAL BREAKS Resident, Reynaldo is continuing the development of his WORK IN PROCESS Afroborinqueño.

CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Andrea Ambam (she/her) is a storyteller and truthteller whose roots sprout from Cameroon. As a politically-engaged performance artist and writer who believes in the art’s potential for movement-building and transformative justice, Andrea puts narrative to use – creating theatrical experiences that world bend and record truth.

During her time in residence she will continue the development of TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN, a Black feminist re-interpretation of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men wherein the United States of America is on trial and its fate lies in the hands of an all Black, all femme 

Evelyn Tejeda (she/her), originally from the Dominican Republic, is a Dominicana's Got Talent Semifinalist and a Founding Member of the Contemporary Dance National Company of the Dominican Republic, directed by Marianela Boan. During her time in residence as a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, she will continue the development of Temporary Flesh.

As a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist in Residence, Jay’s will continue the development of Spirit in the Vine: A Sankopera.  Spirit in the Vine: A Sankopera takes place in the mythic realm of Zaradús, drawing direct inspiration from the African-American folktale High John and Devil’s Daughter while expanding its lore. The story begins when a wise woman creates a baby of extraordinary magical ability for the childless rulers. Their joy, however, is darkened when the High Queen is suddenly murdered.

Alle Mims (they/them) is a Black, biracial genderfluid artist living in NYC. They are a cultural archeologist and political satirist who writes about Black, Queer, and Radical History.

As a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, Alle will continue the development of A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America. A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America ​​is a satirical history play that uses masks and puppets to tell the unbelievable true story of the Soviet Film that almost changed the world.

While in residence, Cheri will work on the development of Around the Way Gurl, a movement investigation that highlights and celebrates the cultural significance and the contributions of women in Bed-Stuy have made to Brooklyn and HipHop culture during the 1980s and 90s.

While in residence at Hi-ARTS, Curtis will continue the development of and addition of choreography to Homenaje a los Rumberos. Homenaje a los Rumberos is an original music composition that pays homage to the rich legacy of traditional Afro-Cuban Rumberos and serves as a heartfelt tribute to Rumbero's living and past.

During their time in residence, Charlene will continue the development of BRICKS, a new funk-rock musical about family legacy, a mom, her daughter, and the ancestors that preceded them. BRICKS is currently being developed in part with support by Hi-ARTS' CRITICAL BREAKS, a residency program for artists who are in a pivotal phase of developing new work in partnership with En Garde Arts, an artist-centric organization supporting artists in the development and production of new work.

SoHumanity is a collaborative duo between Tanya Birl-Torres and Sasha Hutchings. During their time in residence, they will continue the development of A Play in 3 Movements, an immersive and ritualized choreo-play that explores how autoimmunity is an expression of non-consent to a diseased system.

As a polymedia artist, Zane focuses on publicly-engaging work addressing decolonization, the intersection of traditional and contemporary music, and ideas of transcendence. He performs and composes with electro-acoustic instruments, videos, and found/re-purposed instruments.