nature Stories

Alodiah Lunar is a music and dance performer influenced by storytelling, visual art, somatic exploration, and global movement. With a music degree in classical voice from UC Irvine, she has sung professionally for 26 years, and currently works as chorister with the Golden Gate Symphony. Alodiah moved to the SF Bay Area and started training in American fusion belly dance in 2005. She performed in Jill Parker's dance companies Miel and Foxglove Sweethearts, and was a founding member and in the companies Rue De Fell, Carousel Bellydance, and See Infinity Dance Collective. For several years, she co-produced the quarterly stage revue Blue Note Rendezvous, which showcased belly dancers and jazz-influenced musical ensembles. Recently, she was featured in “Yarrow” a nature-infused dance video production under Kami Liddle’s Expansion project. She continues to explore a variety of styles including hip-hop, house, salsa, contemporary, and Filipino folkloric and indigenous movement. Inspired by somatic exploration and earth-based spirituality, she is currently piloting the local initiative Benicia-Vallejo Holistic Dance Arts, to promote mindful movement practices interwoven with community mental health and wellbeing.

Amos White is an awarded environmental executive, a renowned haiku poet and author, a literary and musical arts producer, civil rights activist, and public official. He currently leads 100K Trees for Humanity, a Black led urban reforestation environmental justice nonprofit that plants urban trees for climate, for equity, and for health. Amos is a 2023 Recipient of the Jefferson Award. He lives with his family and two cats in the island city of Alameda, California.

Ilonka Zlatar is a climate justice organizer with Oil and Gas Action Network working to end the era of fossil fuels and is the former president of the grassroots local Climate Action organization 350 Sacramento. She is also a performing artist in the realms of dance, song and public speaking. She has a Master’s degree in Ecosystem Ecology, and was an environmental scientist for nearly a decade before dedicating herself fully to activism. Lover of nature since childhood, Ilonka was deemed Sacramento Environmentalist of the Year in 2019.

Kaeshi Chai, a bi-coastal (NYC + CA) artist, educator, and environmental advocate, co-founded PURE Globe, an international community for healing and social change. With a rich background in dance, choreography, design, and event production, she has left her artistic imprint globally. She has directed the professional Bellyqueen Company and school for over 20 years. As a member of Bellydance Superstars, Bella Gaia and other prestigious groups, Kaeshi has performed in 48 states and 39 countries. Her current projects include "Nature Stories," bridging art and science for environmental awareness, and "Becoming - Exploring Identity." Kaeshi also contributes to events by Unity Earth, Purpose Earth, and the Global Peace Tribe, showcasing dance and movement meditations. Notably, she performed in the contemporary dance piece "Wildfires" by Spector Dance and created an immersive performance about forest root systems for the Exploratorium. Kaeshi is a proud member of Evolutionary Leaders, a circle of forward-thinking individuals committed to human, social, and planetary transformation.

Rachel Noel is an award- winning fusion dance artist who’s been creating and sharing art for 25 years. She has performed and competed in dance troupes and as a soloist, online and in- person, in Oregon, Nevada, Canada, Italy, Germany, Greece and all over California. She studies with a wide variety of teachers and thoughtfully incorporates endless sources of movement inspiration to create her own explorative blend of dance styles. She is particularly inspired by movement from the African diaspora as well as global modern dance styles. Rachel believes fusion dance is a powerful way to share her experience as a multicultural person and hopes to use her expression as a way of blurring the boundaries that society has created to repress our ultimate creativity. She currently lives in the Bay Area, where she performs with live musicians, DJs & EDM producers, in nightclubs, restaurants & theatres and in multiple dance companies.

Shoshanna dances, teaches and produces events in Arcata, California. She is dance faculty at Humboldt State University, directs Ya Habibi Dance Company, has taught and danced across the United States, and has launched an eclectic array of talented dancers into their performance and teaching careers across the globe. Along with teaching, her passion is improvisational dance with live music (specializing in Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and American Bellydance), and is delighted to have worked with many top musicians. She has also taught children's dance classes for over 20 years, runs summer children's camps, and has been offering spectacular birthday parties for children for ten years. She is also a mother to two lovely dancing daughters.