As a child, Ummkhair Brown joined Júlio Leita᷉o’s youth African dance troupe Batoto Yetu in Harlem, New York, and this good fortune ignited her love for movement. Ummkhair (oom-KAI-ya) later trained, worked, and volunteered at various renowned New York City dance companies for several years, and enrolled in Integral Yoga Institute’s first BIPOC yoga teacher training through their San Francisco center to strengthen and marry the mind-body connection in dance, yoga, and optimal wellness. Her great appreciation for children inspired her to find Bloom, an arts-based after-school program with an emphasis on dance and theater in the Department of Education where she was the Artistic Director serving 150 Brooklyn students each year for close to 10 years, as she saw a great need for holistic programming with attention on culture and social change in the public school system. At present, her aim is to do her part even more, along with others, in sharing the importance of movement as an instrument to assist in healing and bringing the most joy to human life. Ummkhair is invested in continuous training and teaching opportunities within the arts and is grateful to hold space with a complementary team at Mark Morris Dance Group.