Zaccho Dance Theatre’s Black Futures Artist-in-Residence Fellowship is open to diverse voices, emerging and established, called to express the Black experience through an art practice that inspires dialogue and builds community. Our goal is to support artists at all points of their process and to give them an opportunity to conduct in-depth research without the pressure of presenting a completed work by the end of the Fellowship.
Zaccho Dance Theatre is thrilled to announce the 2025-2026 Black Futures Fellowships awarded to six outstanding San Francisco and Bay Area performing artists.
The Black Futures Artists in Residence Program offers a monetary stipend, free studio space, production and marketing support, mentorship, and community engagement opportunities.
Tristan Cunningham Actor/Clown is a S.U.N.Y Purchase Theater Arts and Film Conservatory Graduate and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She has performed as an actor and clown all over the Bah Area and has won the 2016 TBA Outstanding Performance Award and the 2016 BATCC Excellence in Theater Award.Most recently she was in All Rise on CBS, The Fugitive starring Kiefer Sutherland, CSI Vegas, SWAT, 911, NCIS, Family Reunion, The Conners, American Auto, and is Toni in Reasonable Doubt on Hulu.
“Cunningham steps so fully into each character that with each snap of a transformation you hold your breath, as if observing a magic trick" – SFGate.
Star Finch is a San Francisco native trying her best to hold ground amidst the erasure of gentrification. She is currently the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Campo Santo and Crowded Fire Theater. She's also an alumni of the Resident Playwrights Program (2018-2022) at Playwrights Foundation. Finch's plays include H.O.M.E. [Hookers on Mars Eventually], BONDAGE (Relentless Award honorable mention), and JOSEPHINE'S FEAST. Her multidisciplinary collaborations include Campo Santo's ETHOS DE MASQUERADE (with Global Street Dance Masquerade) and Crowded Fire's DEATH BECOME LIFE (with Ensemble Mik Nawooj and AXIS Dance Company). Her play BONDAGE is available via Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-American vocalist, composer and cultural strategist. Her music has taken her to renowned venues across four continents, and been featured by the New York Times, BBC, NPR and many more. Meklit's latest album, A Piece of Infinity, reimagines folk songs from across Ethiopia and was released Sept 26th, 2025 on Smithsonian Folkways Records. Meklit is a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Senior Fellow, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Harvard and Stanford. She has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the late legend of funk music, Pee Wee Ellis. Meklit co-founded the podcast Movement with Meklit Hadero, a storytelling initiative that uplifts the songs and stories of immigrant musicians. The project has reached over 10 million listeners via collaborations with PRX's The World, Snap Judgement, Radiotopia Presents, KCRW, and more. Meklit is the Co-Artistic Director of the Movement Immigrant Orchestra.
Photo by Fred Aube
Jarrel Phillips is a San Francisco-native artist and educator who serves youth and families through art, mentorship, and movement practices
from San Francisco to East Africa. From the classroom to the stage, his work spans photography, film, writing, capoeira, and performance. His residencies include Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, San Francisco Public Libraries, Bridge Live Arts, Prescott Circus, Bayview Opera House, African American Art and Culture Complex, and Circus Center. Notable performances include SF Carnival, SF Jazz, SF MOMA, and the Edwardian Ball. Phillips has also curated photography exhibitions: How We Play, which highlights cultural artists and performers, and I Am San Francisco: Black Past and Presence, which amplifies African-American stories. With a Bachelor's in Child Development and a Master’s in Psychology, Phillips, a recipient of the 2025 SFAC Independent Artist and 2024 Creative Work Fund grants, aspires to uplift through creativity.
