About McKersin

Resilience is the word that comes up when describing McKersin. He overcame a troubled environment and upbringing in order to become the dancer, educator and artistic director that he is today. With Ethnic-Haitian dance as his base vocabulary, McKersin started building a bigger arsenal with Hip-Hop, Jazz and Tap. Today, he leads workshops throughout various parts of the world orientated towards social justice and the roots of African American culture and movement. McKersin is currently leading an international research project that involves the ties and spread of the African Diaspora in the western hemisphere as well as many projects throughout his community. His local projects promote emotional competency, healing and conversation through the Arts all while being a full time performing arts teacher in a K-8 school in his community and running his dance theatre company, Lakaï Dance Theatre.

Performing McKersin’s work at Motion State Dance Festival will be I.J. Chan.

I.J. Chan is a dance artist and educator born, raised and based in Boston. She joined KAIROS Dance Theater in 2015, two months after graduating from James Madison University with a BA in Dance and Journalism. She dances with McKersin Previlus/Lakaï Dance Theater, Jennifer Lin and Jean Appolon Expressions. IJ has performed in venues and stages in the Boston and New York City, including the Boston Center for the Arts, MIT, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and New York Live Arts.

I.J. is invested in diversifying her dance training and artistry by working with different choreographers through workshops and masterclasses. She is also interested in intersecting the Asian-American narrative into her work. In addition to performing, she is passionate about bringing quality dance instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within the city. She also works as a freelance graphic designer with a special focus on working with other dance artists in the Boston community.