Governors Island Arts Residency
Dancers Unlimited will be in a part of the Governors Island Organizations in Residence program. Our residency consists of 2 initiatives:
1. uniting Pacific Islander arts organizations and creatives in NYC to celebrate and perpetuate Pasifika heritage through dance, theater, film, music, and traditional crafts.
2. celebrating Dancers Unlimited's creative and organizational collaborators in NYC and Hawai`i, and our roots in the street dance and Native Hawaiian cultures.
Through monthly public programs, creative workshops, and artist talks, the residency fosters community, cross-cultural collaboration, and environmental stewardship, reflecting the deep relationship between Pasifika people and the land and water. Rooted in tradition yet embracing innovation, this project amplifies Indigenous voices and strengthens connections between Pasifika and Lenape communities, local artists, and the broader public.
Artists Featured: Kealani Music
Keilana Mokulehua is a Native Hawaiian singer-songwriter, multidisciplinary artist, and creative strategist whose work lives at the intersection of music, education, and cultural empowerment. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, Keilana’s artistry is deeply rooted in the traditions of mele, hula, and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and the melting pot of cultures that have shaped Hawai'is unique local culture. She is shaped by her lived experience as a modern Pacific Island woman navigating diasporic identity through soul, R&B, and storytelling.
Her music serves as both a mirror and a bridge—a reflection of ancestral memory and a vessel for connection across generations, cultures, and geographies. Whether performing on tour, writing new work, or creating safe space for creative expression, Keilana uses music to foster belonging, healing, and visibility for her community. Her performances are invitations to remember, to reclaim, and to reimagine.
As the founder of KOLEA (Keilana’s Online Learning Experience for Artists), she is building an educational platform that supports the next generation of artists from Hawaiʻi and underrepresented regions, equipping them with the tools to navigate and succeed in the global music industry while staying rooted in culture. Through The Traveling Songbird, she brings music into intimate, sacred spaces—weddings, wellness retreats, and community gatherings—centering joy, ceremony, and celebration as a future stepping stone for artists of KOLEA.
Keilana’s work is a blueprint for creative ecosystem building. She brings people together across disciplines and distances to spark dialogue, collaboration, and change. Her artistry is deeply relational and fueled by the belief that creative expression is the most powerful tool for systemic transformation.
She continues to ask: What if music is the bridge? What if we are the architects of our own cultural future? Through every project, Keilana builds toward that answer—with heart, harmony, and intention. A current resident of NYC, she aspires to create collaborative community and resources for Hawai'i, Pasifika, women, and artists.
Featured Artists: Claire unabia and matthew H. James
Through performance art Claire Unabia unearths her ancestral ties to Hawai'i, while re-evaluating her identity and weaving the tales of her many ethnicities in this modern time where cultural connections can become tenuous.
Matthew H. James is a contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, NYC originally from Manoa, Oahu. He is known for his innovative mixed media art, expressing the human condition through various media from large scale paintings to sculpture and performance art. He has exhibited all around the world from Honolulu to Iceland, Italy, Paris, Manila and NYC.
The purpose of the installation will be to create an immersive dialog with the viewers who enter the space alas well as creating a space that the performers from hawaii can interact with and bring their art to talk about the history and culture of hawaii. The aesthetics will draw from Yuen dynasty Buddhist wall paintings. The intention with this residency is to spark conversation about culture and how it affects our perception of time and space.
Featured Artist: Talk Story Collective
Talk Story Collective is a production organization sharing stories and voices of Hawai’i playwrights through theater performances and workshops.
As more of our community find themselves in diaspora, we hope to bring familiar stories, language, and Hawai’i storytelling modalities to stages across the country.
Mainstream media and most things we know about Hawai‛i are geared towards tourism. We hope this collective will serve as a reminder that the culture, people of Hawai‛i, and their stories are more than a tourist gimmick, and should be shared by those most connected to Hawai‛i.