As a young child, I loved searching for fairies on hikes with my mom. A voracious reader, I always had my nose in a book and my head in the clouds. I grew up the eldest daughter in a coastal New England city, and would often be the one directing playtime on the beach: “I’ll be the powerful seaweed witch and you be the mermaid princess…no, not like that! I’ll just be the seaweed witch and the princess!”

 

My hometown's Portuguese and Cabo Verdean communities greatly impacted the way I grew up: around family and friends who speak their truths loudly, comically, and almost always exaggerated for the listener’s enjoyment.Drama club and community theatre is where I spent my adolescence, also playing trumpet and singing in bands. I was thrilled to have found the stage as a creative outlet. I went on to study Acting and Performance at Emerson College, where I trained with incredibly talented and attentive teachers. During my time there, I noticed the dissonance between me and the wealthier students at a private institution that left me feeling withdrawn and unworthy. I transformed this feeling and co-created the first on-campus organization to support low-income and first-generation college students.

 

Outside of my artistic endeavors, I’ve also had the privilege of supporting nonprofit fundraising efforts, where I’ve managed donor relations and led campaigns to support causes I believe in deeply. This combination of creative and organizational work is where my passions align, and I continue to advocate for opportunities for underserved communities. I want to support the breakdown of oppressive systemic structures, and I want to be involved in art that helps us to recognize the ways in which we unknowingly perpetrate these structures, and ultimately allows us to become free. 

 

As an artist, I'm drawn to stories of self-discovery. How do people heal from traumas, both inherited and picked up along the way? How do we overcome our various adversities? How can we learn from our mistakes? I feel most energized in projects that expose the messiness and nonlinearity within our lives. I love capturing the absurdities of life and society with comedic timing and heightened storytelling.

 

Flowery musings aside (for now!), I’m a Georgia transplant and am loving the vibrancy of ATL! I moved down here for the film industry, and I am definitely staying for the biscuits and gravy. I value my downtime and love singing jewish hymns, playing jazz with my husband, and snuggling with our kitties Pumpernickel, Feta, and Rosé...a full charcuterie of cuteness!