Rebecca Weisser has been teaching dance and choreographing shows for youth and adults all over San Francisco for the past 9 years. She currently dances with Mixtiso, a hip hop group that represents the diversity of San Francisco. She has a strong commitment to empowering youth through the arts.

Rebecca Fisher has been a theater teaching artists for over 8 years teaching independently, as well as with organizations. Most recently she worked at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts where she was actively involved in their former onsite and off-site arts education programs and served as Interim Kaleidoscope Education Director her last six months with the organization. In the Bay Area, Rebecca has performed with New Conservatory, Three Wise Monkeys, and Shotgun Players. In April 2007, she completed a three month run of her solo show The Magnificence of the Disaster, a piece commissioned by The Marsh Performance Initiative. She is the co-creator and co-producer of the East Bay solo performance series, Tell it on Tuesday.

Alex Bargas is a Bay Area native and an artistic visionary. With art beginnings in the underground graffiti scene, Alex’s artistic abilities cross a broad spectrum of categories from fine art to urban art. He has worked on murals across the Bay Area and overseas in Europe. Alex is a skilled painter and teacher and is currently studying Painting at San Francisco State University and is the Art Director for the Beyond the Bell after school program at James Lick Middle School.At The Marsh since 2007.

Cliff Mayotte is an award-winning educator and director with over twenty years of experience in the field. He is currently serving as the Education Program Director for Voice of Witness, where he is co-creating a national oral history curriculum with Facing History and Ourselves. He is the author of the recent book A Community Talks to Itself, an oral history/documentary theatre guide for educators. In 2008, Cliff received the Beverly Kees Educator Award from the Northern California Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists for his work in integrating oral history, civic engagement and performance. From 1997-2000, Cliff served as the Education Director for the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where he implemented and managed all community engagement and education programs. As a director, he has staged plays for such notable local theatres as Aurora Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, Marin Shakespeare Company, Rough and Tumble and The Marsh. His work in theatre has garnered awards from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Drama-Logue and the SF Weekly.

Karina Vela has been teaching movement to children for 10 years, most of that being Ballet Folkórico Mexicano and Creative Dance. She currently is the resident Dance teacher at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco. In addition to her specialty, Mexican Folklore, she is passionate about the many Dance styles of Latin America and Musical Theater. In 2003, she graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Dance. She has performed and toured with Ballet Folkórico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno, based in Oakland, CA and is currently a company member of Ballet Folkórico Alma de Mexico based in SSF, CA. At The Marsh since 2008.

Lisa Quoresimo has directed, and taught at theatres around the country, and at many schools and colleges including Malcolm X Elementary in Berkeley, Rooftop K-8 in San Francisco, New York University, and the Manhattan School of Music. She was the artistic director and co-founder of the Kairos Theatre Company, which produced many Off-off Broadway shows, including a one-man show which went on to a successful Broadway run. She is also a playwright, music director and composer who has been produced widely in New York and elsewhere. Lisa holds a Master‚s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and trained at Circle in the Square Theatre in NYC.

Susana Aragón is a visual artist and teacher from Lima Peru who shares her work with children through many media including painting, photography and video. She is artist-in-residence at Thousand Oaks School in Berkeley in partnership with Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Susana has taught art and cost for the past two seasons.

Maica Folch is a movement artist and educator from Barcelona, Spain. For the past four years, Maica has worked at MYT as a teacher of aerial dance, trapeze and clowning. She is the founding member of ZaZa Dance Theater and NO-WAY group. Learn more about Maica at www.zazadance.org.

John Ramirez grew up in the farmlands outside of Sacramento. He studied studio art at Sacramento State University and UC Davis with Mel Ramos, Darrell Forney, Wayne Thiebault and Greg Kondos. For the past twenty-five years, Ramirez has freelanced as a professional space designer, prop master, and muralist for business throughout the United States. His teaching experience includes studio art, murals and set design Mission Cultural Center, Marsh Youth Theater and Mission High School. Ramirez has a fine art studio in San Francisco Mission District.

Ellen Sebastian Chang (Jip, His Story Directory) has a long and productive career as a director, writer and a creative consultant throughout the United States. She began her career as a lighting designer and technician for The Blake Street Hawkeyes from 1979-1983. In 1982 her directorial and writing debut of Your Place Is No Longer With Us, the coming of age story of a ten-year old biracial girl, won a Bay Area Critics Circle Award for New Directions in Theater. This work was the beginning of Ms. Sebastian Chang’s ongoing interest in children; exploring dialogues in regard to race, specifically, issues relating to mixed race and strong female identified images. Sebastian Chang’s work based upon the life and work of Zora Neal Hurston, The Sanctified Church, premiered in San Francisco and received productions through the U.S. Ms. Sebastian Chang was the co-founder and artistic director of Life on the Water, an internationally known presenting and producing organization at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center.

As a director, Sebastian Chang has collaborated with such solo performers as Awele Makeba, Whoopi Goldberg, Holly Hughes, Leonard Pitt, Ned; Bill Talen, The Shape. She has been fortunate to work with some of the most interesting artists and projects in the Bay Area and beyond: GamelanSekar Jaya; Kitka; Youth Speaks; Deep Waters Dance Theater; A Travelling Jewish Theater; Aya de Leon; kaoticGood; inkBoat; Oakland Opera Theater and The Kitchen Sisters.