What Makes Us Great Again?  The Hajj of Syed Muhammad Shamsuddin Al-Bukhari (Admiral Cheng Ho) Cast

Shawn has 11 years’ experience as a classical and folk Chinese dancer in Bay Area collegiate Chinese dance groups. Shawn is passionate about pushing the line between contemporary and tradition, challenging ahistorical unions of religion, nationalism, and normative gender. Shawn loves lifting up other artists, and giving them the space to express their own voice. Outside of Chinese dance, Shawn does Waltz and occasionally contra. They also serve as an advisory board member for National Choreography Month San Francisco, a contract EP advisor for 2kAve, and works full time as a Senior Scientist for New Energy Risk, an alternative energy insurance company.

Stefanie is a dancer from Taiwan trained in Classical Chinese dance and various Chinese/Taiwanese folk dance styles. She started her journey in dancing at four years old, mainly training with Ms. Hui-Zhu Shi. Stefanie loves the fluidity, strength, and cultural values underlying the Classical Chinese dance style. In the future, she hopes to advance her training in Classical Chinese and Chinese/Taiwanese folk dance styles while working on fusion pieces that bring these styles and other styles (ie. hip-hop, contemporary, ballet) together. In addition to BACID, Stefanie is also a member with FeiTian Dancers at UC Berkeley.

Genevieve Hodge comes from an artistic background molded by 20+ years of dance and performance experience; she first trained in dance forms such as ballet, tap, and jazz, then expanded her repertoire to incorporate Classical and Folk Chinese dance forms and street forms such as hip hop, while building together her own style of open choreography - a blend of her various movement backgrounds. As an Artistic Director and board member for AFX Dance Company (a UC Berkeley competitive collegiate dance team) she co-led a team for 3 years, helping shape the vision, choreography, and logistical organization of their semesterly competition sets. Through their performances, she and her team enjoyed accolades such as “Best Theme” two years in a row at World Of Dance Orange County and “Most Creative” at Maxt Out. Currently, in addition to BAICD, she continues her performance work as a company member of Ballet Afsaneh, a critically acclaimed dance ensemble performing dances from the Silk Road networks of Eurasia (primarily Persian and Afghan dance) and as a teaching artist at the EOSP Introductory School of Dance.

Shirley is a classically trained dancer with a foundation in both Chinese dance and ballet. Currently dancing with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, she has also performed with San Jose Dance Theatre, Cardinal Ballet, and American Repertory Ballet. In addition to performing, Shirely brings experience teaching dance and is a piano accompanist for ballet classes.

is a writer, producer, cultural dramaturg, and dialect coach. She has worked on Broadway, the West End, and with national and regional theaters. Credits include Generative Cultural Advisor and Dialect Coach for Matthew Spangler’s "The Kite Runner" (World Premiere, UK Tour, Broadway production, and U.S. tour) and Cultural Advisor for Ursula Rani Sarma’s "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (World Premiere at A.C.T San Francisco and West Coast tour). She also worked on the world premiere of Sheila Silver’s "A Thousand Splendid Suns" Opera at Seattle Opera. Additional theater credits include "Blood and Gifts" by Tony-winner J.T. Rogers (La Jolla Playhouse), Gabriel Jason Dean’s "Heartland" (rolling world premieres and off-Broadway), Sylvia Khoury’s "Selling Kabul" (Seattle Rep, Northern Stage, Interact Theatre, Signature Theatre), Kevin Artigue’s "The Most Dangerous Highway in the World" (Golden Thread Productions), and "Zealot" (South Coast Repertory). Film & TV credits include: "Little America", "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", "Merry Friggin’ Christmas", and "Away and Together". Humaira is also a speaker and educator, serving as a faculty member for The Immigration Experience in California Through Literature and History at San Jose State University’s 2024/25 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Golden Thread Productions.

Janani Ramachandran is also a longtime vocalist. She has a background in classical Indian music and musical theater, and currently performs R&B music in a duo "Wish U Were Us." She aspires to use her voice through both music and political advocacy to shine a bright light on the Bay Area's incredible art culture and history, and uplift our powerful stories of resilience. Outside of Art, Janani Ramachandran is the elected Oakland City Councilmember for District 4, a public interest attorney, and commissioner on the California Commission for API American Affairs. Photo credit @jennheflin as part of the Alameda On Camera project.

Sruti Sarathy is a leading Carnatic musician in the diaspora. She is a versatile violinist, singer, and composer with roots in the South Indian classical tradition. Her original music is a meeting place for Carnatic and Hindustani forms, spoken word, South Asian diasporic experience, literature in many Indian and Western languages, and theater. Her style and sound bring out the voice of the Indian violin in a contemporary and imaginative way. Her groundbreaking experiments with the Carnatic form and the role of the violin in Carnatic music have been supported by several institutions. She received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2016 from the US Department of State to study cross-genre approaches in Carnatic violin. She is also the recipient of grants from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (2007) and the Creative Work Fund (2021). In “Songs for Many Lives,” supported by CWF, Sruti partners with the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action to create new Carnatic music about South Asian diasporic life.

Cal Celerity is UC Berkeley's first and only Vietnamese traditional dance team (est. 2021). Their mission is to celebrate and share the beauty of Vietnamese culture through authentic, traditional dances with the use of various props. Through each performance, they aim to foster cultural appreciation and bring the elegance and richness of Vietnam’s heritage to their campus and community.

Nala's sword dance solo is called '踏雪' or "Walking on Snow". Nala is a software engineer working in data privacy. She started dancing in college when she joined her school's Chinese dance team, Fei Tian Dancers, and is excited to have the opportunity to continue to study Chinese dance styles as a student dancer. In her spare time, she enjoys plucking the guzheng, crocheting dolls, and playing Genshin Impact.

Arabella (she/her) is a Bay Area native who has over 15 years of dance practice, predominantly in ballet. She has most recently danced with Ballet Fantastique, UC Berkeley's Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies department (graduating with a minor in Dance & Performance Studies ), NachmoSF, and 4 Fish x Red Eye Productions. She is excited to expand her Chinese classical and folk dance practice after a long hiatus and connect to her roots by exploring the stories of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia.

Priscilla Lui started dancing at age twelve in San Jose, CA at her local studio, where she dabbled in ballet, jazz, tap, and lyrical. In her college years, she made her first foray into Chinese dance with Stanford Chinese Dance, making lifelong friends and memories along the way. Now, in her twenties, she does contemporary jazz every weekend at Alonzo LINES Ballet, and she hopes to continue dancing for many years to come.

Mindy Ng is a dancer, educator, and data visualization artist from Berkeley, California. Mindy was introduced to dance in high school through competition choreography. While living in London after college, she began training in freestyle within various street dance forms, focusing on house and hip hop. Now back in the Bay Area, she performs with the street dance theater company, the Embodiment Project, is a member of BeMovement Collective, and co-hosts the hip-hop freestyle session, Bounce Back. She uses movement to explore themes of grief and intergenerational healing, and is dedicated to social transformation through community building and visual storytelling.