Danny Hoch - Founder
One of the first artists to bridge Hip-Hop and theater, his plays Pot Melting, Some People, and Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop have toured nationally and internationally. Danny and his work have received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Sundance Writers Fellowship, a CalArts/Alpert Award in Theatre, a Tennessee Williams Fellowship, two Obies, and a fellowship from the New School’s Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

Danny’s writing and acting credits for television and film include Bamboozled, Prison Song, Subway Stories, Thin Red Line, Whiteboys, and 3AM. His HBO special, Some People, was nominated for a Cable Ace Award. His writings on Hip-Hop, race, culture, and class have appeared in The Village Voice, New York Times, Harper’s, The Nation, American Theatre and various books, including Out of Character, Extreme Exposure, and Laughing In The Dark and Creating Your Own Monologue. Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop is published as a Villard Books/Random House paperback, with its film version released in 2000.

He is a founding member of the Active Element Foundation (AEF), which builds relationships between grassroots youth activists, professionals, donors, and artists through grantmaking, technical assistance and Hip-Hop culture. Recently, AEF funded a 13-state Environmental Justice Youth Initiative, the Rap-The-Vote Campaign, and ten youth-led, Hip-Hop focused organizations that campaigned against Proposition 21 in California.

Kamilah Forbes - Artistic Director
As the Artistic Director of Hip-Hop Theatre Junction, Kamilah conceived and directed Rhyme Deferred, which was produced at various venues throughout New York City, Washington D.C., Dallas, and North Carolina. Her directing credits include Boxing Ennui, Twelfth Night, and Caged Rhythm. A working actress and playwright, she is a member of the Folger Shakespeare Performance Troupe in Washington D.C. Kamilah is also a co-founder of the Nommo Cultural Arts Camp for under-privileged youth in Kingston, Jamaica. She holds a BFA in Theatre from Howard University and is the recipient of the Owen Dodson Excellence in New Performance Award.

Clyde Valentin - Executive Director
Clyde Valentín was born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He has a history of contributing to and creating socially responsible entertainment projects for the last ten years. Clyde co-founded Stress Magazine, a pioneering publication that examined the socio-political context of Hip-Hop through groundbreaking content and design.

Clyde also co-founded the Black August Benefit Concert series, entering its 10th year of programming. Black August, currently a project of the Malcom X Grassroots Movement, strives to support the global development of Hip Hop culture by facilitating exchanges between international communities where Hip Hop is a vital part of youth culture. Clyde, serving in the capacity of Production Manager, recently completed work on his first feature film entitled On the Outs, which won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the Slam Dance Film Festival in 2005.

He is a graduate of Binghamton University, where he was a member of La Raza Theater Company and he currently sits on the board of the Artists Community Federal Credit Union, ACFCU offers a variety of financial services, including investment and credit programs, to member artists, arts workers and non-profit arts organizations in New York City and the metropolitan region.

Some run away with the circus.
Elz Cuya ran away with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival.

For three straight years this native San Franciscan watched the incredible work of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Bay Area. When year four rolled around, her fixation with the Festival became so overwhelming she left her beloved city of San Francisco to join HHTF headquarters in New York as the External Affairs Director. Now she devotes herself to bringing more young people of color into theater, both on stage and in the house. Moreover, she works toward a world where Hip-Hop is naturally represented in theater, not just at the Festival, but in the theater world at large.

Though she terribly misses the Bay Area, Elz is thrilled to say that she's finally able to give directions in Manhattan when asked. "I probably only messed up twice," she says. "Ok, maybe three times."

Elz is the founder of the Poetry Mission in San Francisco, the celebrated Mission District-based literary community that presents poetry, performance art and music. As though no one noticed she left, and granted, she would have it no other way, performances are still happily deviant and going strong at DALVA on Thursday nights. www.myspace.com/poetrymission.

Born to immigrant Filipino parents, she earned her BA in Mass Communications from University of California, Berkeley. She spent nearly a decade of her early career in news radio prior to entering the non-profit sector. Elz currently lives in Bushwick, hella propagating words like "hella," and facilitates a bi-monthly creative writing workshop in Bed-Stuy. For writers curious, rigorous, and felonious-yet-luminous, please email poetrymission@gmail.com.

Daphne was the Founding Director of the Institute for Urban Education at New School University, which was designed to support public high school students as they navigate the transition to higher education. Daphne developed and fostered innovative community-based programs in partnership with schools, organized educational events and public programming, facilitated professional development for educators and youth workers and taught both college and high school courses. Through this work she has taught and written about the intersection of education, social activism, public policy and hip hop.Before founding the Institute, Daphne served as Acting Director for the Master of Science in Teaching Program at the New School University; prior to that, as Program Officer with the Jenesis Family Foundation. In addition, she held posts of Project Director at the International Education Center (Denmark) and Senior Trainer with Global Kids (New York City), where she designed programs and curriculum on human rights and global issues. Daphne was also the co-founder of NEXT Innovations (Minneapolis), a youth, leadership development project.Daphne is a graduate of Vassar College and holds a Master’s degree from the Bank Street School of Education.

Katy started working in theater at the age of 14 at The Union County Arts Center (Rahway, NJ) where she Staged Managed Rahway High Schools Musical Productions. RHS was a part of The Papermill Playhouse Adopt-a-School Program. Katy received her BFA in Theater Production/Stage Management from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 2001. She has worked in NYC since her University graduation in Freelance Production for Theater and Television. Theater credits include : The Seven (New York Theater Workshop: Company Manager), Momma's Boyz written by Candido Tirado, Cyrano (Chekhov Theater Ensemble), City Lights Youth Theater, Pepetian's Jump It Up Festival. Resident Stage Manager: Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture (2003 - 2006) TV credits include: HBO's Def Poetry Jam, VH1's Hip Hop Honors, P. Diddy's Bad Boys of Comedy, Arthur Ashe Kids' Day (USA Networks), Macy's 4th of July Celebration, The NYC New Year's Eve Celebration, as well as for ESPN, MTVN, A&E, NBC, UPN9 - among others. Katy is also currently the Company / Tour Manager for Elizabeth Streb / Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. She has toured with Streb Extreme Action nationally and internationally, and also toured with Candido Tirado's Momma's Boyz, Will Power's Flow, Jerry Quickley's Live From the Front, and The Suicide Kings' In Spite of Everything.

Kristin Hill- Grants Coordinator

Dameion Anderson - Intern
Born and raised in Bronx, New York in the 80s, Dameion is now 18 years old and is in the process of getting his G.E.D. He is also trying to find a good career field that fits him well. He is currently an intern at HHTF (Hip-Hop Theater Festival) and has a job in T.V Production working with music artists. When he has time for himself he also produces beats with his music crew Big CALI and NICE from Boston and Florida. As you can see he’s very busy trying to find himself and do what he loves so that he can make a career. Like Dameion would say, “Take all the experiences while you’re here. It’s good to have the knowledge so u can do what ever u want.”

 

Nicola Geismar - Intern
Nicola grew up across the pond in London, England. Her background is multi-disciplinary having trained heavily in a variety of dance disciplines. Hip hop culture has always been the prime inspiration for Nicola developing a robust movement vocabulary in bboy/bgirl and athletic dance styles. She has been fortunate enough to be involved in pioneering projects both on and offstage, and has worked with instrumental UK based hip hop theatre artists such as Jonzi D and Benji Reid.

Projects have taken her worldwide, exploring Hip Hop territory in South Africa, Berlin, Montreal and now New York. As well as her physical training, Nicola has experience in coordinating dance projects for urban youth and is a qualified Pilates instructor. As a promoter of Hip Hop dance artists, she is a key liaison in arranging transatlantic cultural dance exchanges. Most recently Nicola was successful in bringing Greg Campbellock Jr to London to teach workshops at the world renowned Breakin Convention in London, England.

Nicola is excited to be part of the HHTF team helping them market their concept as well as promote their unique brand of hip hop theater. She is inspired by their relentless work to push the boundaries as they continue to be a growing force and platform for hip hop artists locally and worldwide.

HHTF Board

Danny Hoch - Chair
(Actor, Playwright - Caseroc Productions)

Constance Mortell - Secretary
(Development Consultant - Freelance)

Michael Skolnik - Treasurer
(Independent Filmmaker - Skolnik Productions)

Lumumba Mosquera
(Entertainment Lawyer - Dimension Films, The Weinstein Company)

Jennifer Ortega
(Artistic Director - Monarch Theater)

Darren Sussman
(President - TheaterMania.com)

Clyde Valentin
(Executive Director - Hip-Hop Theater Festival)