founder, executive producer, sea dancer (they/fae/she)

Sia is a dancer, harpist, doula, believer in emergent strategy and transformative justice. They have worked in the field of dance and somatic healing for over 12 years. She has been a creative director and choreographer for award winning film Choreographing Healing, and is inspired by dance as medicinal and emergent strategy. Sia has always considered waterfalls and the ocean to be home, and feels a deep sense of wonder and awe when it comes to protecting and relating with the sea. Sia is hopeful that through community building, Climate Wayfinding, and creative expression, solutions for the ocean climate crisis will emerge. 

Sia loves scuba diving, cats, gummy bears, and poetry.

retreat manager, sea dancer, yoga and meditation instructor

Kia Islam is yoga & meditation instructor, multidisciplinary artist, DJ, and traveler. Kia is also the Retreat Manager of the Sea Dance Collective. Growing up between the East Coast and the Middle East, Kia has been exposed to a plethora of devotional and cultural practices from a young age. Kia is a graduate of the New School, where she double majored in Photography and Culture & Media. During this time she was introduced to Hatha Yoga under the teachings of Sri Dharma Mittra. Asana practice totally transformed her understanding of the mind body soul, truly igniting a deep sense of wonder about the transformation that this practice encourages. Kia completed her 200 Hr RYT through the Bhakti Center in 2016. She has studied Meridian Yoga Therapy under Science of Self Yoga and completed both 200 Hr Meditation Teacher Training and a 200 Hr RYT at Three Jewels NYC. Kia has dedicated herself to a lifelong study of the healing arts, creative expression, culture and spirituality. Kia’s classes are focused on awareness of the breath while making shapes, using intuitive movement and music to inspire and nourish on all levels.

performance director, composer, sea dancer and siren singer (any pronouns), photo by Veronica Spann

Allison Spann is a performance creator who believes in the power of voice and collaborative art-making as radical tools for healing. She has worked as a vocalist across genres, actor, composer, music director, sound designer, director, choreographer, and enjoys sliding into whatever role a collaborative project requires. Allison enjoys teaching private music lessons to her wonderful students, and dances at any chance she can get.

She loves baking, interior design, and snow.

creative production director of Sea Dance Documentary (she/her)

Preferred to be simply called Teresa, she is an aspiring poet, film critic, distributor and producer. Her work centers on inward explorations of violent girlhood unafraid of venturing into bereavement’s reign. She is interested in transnational cinema, multilingual literature, and the depiction of subversive femininity within the Latin American context.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Teresa has witnessed first hand the catastrophes of climate change and its devastating effects on the country’s population, ranging from basics: lack of access to electricity and portable water to the large scale: subsequent mass migration. With this in mind, she is passionate to pursue the role of Creative Production Director for Sea Dance’s developing documentary. And on a personal note, she is the mother of her feline masterpiece, Zarina.

You can contact her at: mtf2140@columbia.edu

lead choreographer

Naïma is an awarded actress, singer, dancer/choreographer and director.

A multi-faceted artist, Naïma graduated from the Paris Musical Academy in 2015. Her training includes the prestigious Rick Odums dance institute and the National Center for Living Arts, where she obtains a dance teacher diploma in 2019.

More recently, Naïma started at the famed Broadway Dance Center, where she studies and hones her skills as a dancer and choreographer.

Julia (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer.