Welcome to Marsae Eleda
Njeri Rutherford
Njeri Rutherford
Njeri Rutherford is a dance artist, arts administrator, scholar, and entrepreneur from Detroit, MI. After receiving her B.A. in Dance and Communication Arts from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC. Njeri relocated to New York City to pursue her career as an artist where she discovered her zeal for arts administration and gained experience in development and fundraising through her work at Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Yard, Ephrat Aesherie Dance, and Movement Research. Njeri has danced professionally for Davalois Fearon Dance, Dance The Yard, The Wanda Project, and O’Toole and Dancers. She has choreographed and performed in many notable venues including Charlotte Dance Festival, Dixon Place, and BRIC. She is the owner of The Barre, an artist services company whose mission is to bridge the gap between Black and artists of color and proper funding, resources, and notoriety. Njeri is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing her Masters in Dance.
Njeri Rutherford is a dance artist, arts administrator, scholar, and entrepreneur from Detroit, MI. After receiving her B.A. in Dance and Communication Arts from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC. Njeri relocated to New York City to pursue her career as an artist where she discovered her zeal for arts administration and gained experience in development and fundraising through her work at Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Yard, Ephrat Aesherie Dance, and Movement Research. Njeri has danced professionally for Davalois Fearon Dance, Dance The Yard, The Wanda Project, and O’Toole and Dancers. She has choreographed and performed in many notable venues including Charlotte Dance Festival, Dixon Place, and BRIC. She is the owner of The Barre, an artist services company whose mission is to bridge the gap between Black and artists of color and proper funding, resources, and notoriety. Njeri is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing her Masters in Dance.
Celia Benvenutti
Celia Benvenutti is an Afro-Latina dance artist, native Detroiter, Howard University alumna and Certified Dunham Technique Instructor. She has been studying dance for over 25 years under the tutelage of Madame Penny Godboldo, lecturer of dance at the University of Michigan and Certified Dunham Technique Instructor. Benvenutti’s background includes extensive training in the Dunham Technique, classical ballet, modern (Horton and Graham), jazz, traditional African, Afro-Cuban, Haitian and Puerto Rican Folklore. Celia was principal dancer in Taurus Broadhurst Dance: A Contemporary African Company located in Washington D.C. from 2012-2016. In 2020, she was awarded a local choreographic residency by Collective Sweat Detroit and the Gilda Snowden Emerging Artist Award for dance and choreography through the Kresge Foundation. She is currently a member of Ozzie Rivera’s RicanStruction, a Detroit Puerto Rican folkloric dance troupe. Her artistic goals focus on creating choreography based in the Dunham Technique and Afro-Caribbean dance.
Gemstone
Gemstone is a multi-disciplinary artist whose love roots self in an interconnectivity with nature as nourishment for our shared future-presence as earth dwellers / cosmic seeds.
Pat2Dope
Pat2Dope is an endless Voice of imagination
and perception. Using his skill of creation and hyper ambition his art takes humans on a compelling journey of distorted visual and colorfully eerie beats to shake Heaven and Hell. MR2DOPE bridges dimensions with collaborative projects with a wide range of phenomenal artist from music, video, skateboarding, photography, art installation, and technology testing..
Pat2Dope has been on tour across USA and Europe with Mayer Hawthorne, The Black opera, 14KT and etc. He’s been in music videos with Royce da 59 and Bizzare of D12.
Pat2Dope also test new tech like Electronic skateboards/Bikes with award winning videographer/director Rik Cordero.
A true Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti legend. Managing Launch Skate board shop and Making the first medical and recreational sale of cannabis in the state of Michigan to Jon Sinclair the reason all of Ann Arbor has our annual Hash Bash.
Pat2Dope is infinitely dope.