Jennifer Aoki (she/her) is a Japanese Canadian dancer and choreographer, based in Vancouver, BC. Known for her thought-provoking work and innovative vision, Jennifer has established herself as a voice in the dance community. Her work celebrates the intersectionality of her identities and is influenced by her ongoing research into heritage, cultural loss, and ancestral teachings. Jennifer’s choreography has been presented in Canada, as well as in Seattle, Amsterdam, and Berlin, including Dancing on the Edge, Nah Drahn, 12 Minutes Max, Vines Arts Festival, and Fringe Festivals. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University and a Diploma in Recreation Leadership from Langara College. Presently, she is Artistic Co-Director of Voirelia and is a board member at the Dance Centre.

Carolyn Nakagawa is a fourth-generation Anglo-Japanese Canadian poet, playwright, and educator who makes her home in the territory colonized as Vancouver, BC. Her work addresses themes such as the nuances of identity in collective contexts, and history’s continuing impact on the present. Nakagawa’s poems have appeared in publications such as The Malahat Review, CV2, and The New Quarterly, and she has read her work at Powell Street Festival and Heart of the City Festival. Her plays have been presented by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and Ruby Slippers Theatre. She holds an honours degree in English Literature and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies from the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Andrea Mariko Grant is a Postdoctoral Fellow on the Past Wrongs, Future Choices project at the University of Victoria. A sansei Japanese Canadian, her work explores Nikkei art past and present, including the tanka poetry of her issei grandmother, Etsuko Tsuji. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford and was previously a Research Fellow and Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.