Abundant Praise Cast
Witness the Praise Reimagined: Fri, Feb 6th, & Sun, Feb 8th
The Chrysalis: Monarch Center for the Arts | 1805 Main St, SD, CA 92113
Grab your tickets here
Keomi Tarver
A divine mover, storyteller, and healer — a vessel through which sacred artistry flows. A San Diego native and Brooklyn transplant, she fuses modern dance, West African, hip hop, and praise-based movement into a breathtaking language of spirit and embodiment.
Known for her radiant transparency and unapologetic joy, Keomi has headlined stages for audiences of over 20,000, taught branded dance classes for Nordstrom and Aerie, and led private wellness sessions for celebrity clients. Her artistry has been featured at San Diego City College, San Diego State University, Yale University, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art — spaces she transforms with her presence alone.
Since 2010, Keomi has created immersive, soul-awakening works that explore duality, choice, vulnerability, and freedom. Through choreography, poetry, and multi-media storytelling, she invites audiences into sacred dialogue with themselves — reminding them that healing is not only possible but revolutionary.
Her latest work, Black Girl Bloom, stands as a living tribute to the stories, resilience, and sacred beauty of Black women and girls. Featuring pieces like Sun-Kissed Flowers Picked Too Soon (written in honor of Breonna Taylor), Superpower, Pray You Catch Me, and Praise Is Who I Am, the show transcends performance and becomes ceremony.
As the Founder and Director of AbunDANCE with Keomi®, she curates global wellness retreats, private healing sessions, and customized experiences that center wholeness, creativity, and radical abundance. Her mission is clear: to heal, to create, to live abundantly — and to show others they can too.
Experience her movement. Witness her bloom. Be forever changed.
Aaliyah Hollis
Aaliyah’s dance journey began in the church, where praise dance was the first style introduced to her and became the foundation of her movement. In eighth grade, she began formal dance training both in and outside of school, expanding her skills while staying rooted in worship. Outside of church and class, she spent time learning through YouTube, drawing inspiration from artists such as Michael Jackson and Aaliyah, whose artistry and presence influenced her expression.
Blending praise dance with other styles she has studied, Aaliyah views movement as a form of worship, storytelling, and connection. She loves to dance, learn, create, and spend time with family and friends—elements that continually shape her artistry. As a member of Abundant Praise, she brings a teachable spirit, intention, and a genuine love for using dance to glorify God.
Erika Malone Violet
Erika Malone Violet is a dancer, actress, teaching artist, and expressive arts practitioner with 30+ years of experience inhabiting her three great loves - performing, teaching, and building beloved community. She has been a champion and advocate of arts education and creative youth development in the San Diego region since 2001. Erika currently serves as the Senior Director of Learning and Engagement at Monarch School Project & their neighborhood arts center called The Chrysalis: Monarch Center for the Arts. Monarch School is the only comprehensive K-12 school in the U.S. developed specifically to serve unhoused students and their families. Her teaching artist and performance work have spanned a wide scope in the community, including partnerships and artistic projects with The Old Globe, A Reason to Survive, Imagine, Malashock Dance, San Diego Junior Theatre, transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project, Jason Mraz Foundation, and Arts Education Connect. She served as the Artistic Director of Eveoke Dance Theatre for 5 years, leading their innovative community outreach work and founding their Teacher Training Program. Erika was the featured teaching artist in the CAC Video called Math in Motion with Malashock Dance and participated in the Kennedy Center’s Teaching Artists Present program with a dance video focused on emotional literacy. She earned her B.A. in Dance & Theatre Studies, M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy, and is a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT). One of her favorite things to do is to serve as a conductor in Refugia Playback Theatre which she co-directs with Catherine Schrock from Imagine - listening and honoring stories in community spaces through artistic forms brings her the deepest form of joy.
Jovani "Jio" Chavez is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, and wellness professional based in San Diego, CA. A proud Black/Guatemalan artist hailing from Normal Heights, Jovani brings nearly a decade of movement expertise to the stage and the studio. He is the founder of the dance brand Dance with Jovani, where he serves as a specialized dance competition coach, and is a dedicated Licensed Massage Therapist, integrating bodywork and recovery into his holistic approach to performance.
Jovani’s choreographic talent has been recognized by Mounarath-Powell Productions (Movement Makers 2021) and the San Diego Dance Theater, where he recently received the "Audience Favorite" award at the Emerging Choreographers competition. His extensive performance history includes being a member of the world-renowned Culture Shock San Diego and a Principal Dancer for transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project.
He has been featured in the San Diego Trolley Dances and has collaborated with global artists such as Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz and Filipino icon Inigo Pascual. Whether through high-stakes competition coaching, therapeutic bodywork, or stage performance, Jovani is committed to the longevity and excellence of the San Diego dance community.
Jovani "Jio" Chavez
Kendrick Dial
Already known for being a renaissance man, navigating expression in the realms of poetry, music and theatre. Kendrick has always held a deep seeded love and appreciation for dance, and though he has often collaborated with dancers this is the first time he has truly allowed himself to embody the title. Appreciative of the journey this has been, he is just grateful to be able to move and use his body for art.
KishaLynn Elliott is a multi-hyphenate artist, healer, and storyteller, joyfully claiming the stage as an altar for authentic expression. Decades devoted to poetry, music, and writing have converged into a radical embodiment of movement as ministry.
In Abundant Praise, which explores the intersection of spiritual grounding and physical liberation, KishaLynn brings her whole self to the sanctuary: Black, Christian, Lesbian, wife, mother, artist, healer, and more, unapologetically integrating the sacred and the secular. She is the celebrated author of CHILDish and Black Woman Grown, and a certified Reiki Master Teacher. As co-founder of the Black Leadership and Abundance Center (BLAAC), she extends her artistry into the sacred work of energetic healing through their signature service, Balance and Flow.
She is the newly appointed Executive Director of San Diego Pride, bringing her philosophy of abundant inclusion to the region's LGBTQ+ community. Whether through the written word, healing hands, or the moving body, KishaLynn’s mission remains the same: to help herself and others live fully, love deeply, and praise abundantly.
KishaLynn Elliott
Linzy Clara
She is a 20-year-old Chicana woman and first-generation college transfer student currently transitioning from Southwestern College to San Diego State University. Her journey is shaped by lived experience, cultural pride, and a fearless commitment to using her voice. Dance is not just movement for her — it is storytelling, release, and resistance. Through her body, she communicates emotion, truth, and connection, allowing her artistry to reflect both vulnerability and strength.
What sets her apart is the way she leads and creates with intention. She is a compassionate leader and dedicated advocate who values honesty, reflection, and community. Grounded in her identity as a Chicana woman and first-generation student, she weaves creativity and leadership together to create spaces that feel empowering, inclusive, and authentic — honoring her roots while continuing to grow into who she is becoming.
Monique Easley-Bland
A vessel of spirit, movement, and transformation. A Las Vegas native with a Master's degree in Behavioral Health, Monique has spent her life weaving healing and artistry into one seamless offering — touching lives both in therapy rooms and on stages.
A gifted performer, choreographer, singer, and movement teacher, Monique is the founder of Body Moves by ME, a celebrated high-energy fitness experience in Imperial Beach, California that ignites body confidence and joyful freedom. Through her handmade brand Modupe Designs, she crafts vibrant African cloth earrings that honor ancestry and amplify self-expression. An original cast member and Visual Director of Black Girl Bloom, and Visual Design Director of Abundant Praise.
A military wife, a mother of three, and a woman deeply rooted in purpose, Monique moves through the world with unmatched energy and sacred intention. Every performance, every creation, and every class she leads becomes a ceremony of self-love, resilience, and radiant joy. To witness her work is to be reminded of the beauty of motion, the strength in community, and the healing power of love made visible.
Niza Galindo (she/her) is a Chicana dancer and choreographer who is currently based on unceded Kumeyaay land in San Diego, California. She started her dance journey at TranscenDANCE Youth Art Project, where she began as a young dancer and later returned as a seasoned professional after graduating from California State University, Long Beach with a B.A. in Dance. Niza returned to TranscenDANCE to work as a Substitute Teaching Artist, Apprentice Teaching Artist, and Program coordinator, and has since developed her contemporary modern practices alongside her administrative training. Niza participated as an Artist Intern within DISCO RIOT's 2025 (R)Evolution Artist Program, where she further developed her programmatic and educational skills to better serve the dance community. As Niza works in the arts, she continues to work with physical therapists and explores physical wellbeing, longevity, and sustainability through dance and movement. At the forefront of her journey, Niza leads with great compassion and interest in creating inclusive and accessible spaces for all those who share the same intentions.
Niza Galindo
Sierra Pierre, who also goes by Era, was born and raised in San Diego, where she trained in jazz, modern, hip-hop, and East and West African dance. She has been performing since early childhood—singing in several choirs throughout San Diego, dancing across California, and painting in the comfort of her own home.
Sierra is a dancer for the San Diego Zoo and has spent several years performing in front of thousands of visitors from around the world. She now performs and teaches throughout San Diego as she continues to study and develop her craft. Sierra aspires to be a multidisciplinary artist who runs her own production company, while also selling her paintings to those who connect with them.
Sierra Pierre
Ron Davis
Ron Davis began his dance journey over 20 years ago with the transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project performing group, where his passion for movement and storytelling was first nurtured. He later studied at The University of the Arts as a Modern Dance Performance major, deepening his artistic voice and technical foundation.
A San Diego native, Ronald is a multidisciplinary artist — dancer, choreographer, singer, poet, and dedicated teaching artist and choreographer with transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project. His work is rooted in purpose, often exploring social and economic realities through dance to spark meaningful dialogue and bridge gaps in humanity.
This performance marks Ronald’s powerful return to the stage after a long hiatus, bringing with him years of lived experience, artistry, and renewed creative fire.