Alison De La Cruz  (she/he/they/siya/DeLa) is a senior artivist leader, facilitator, cultural organizer, multi-disciplinary theatre artist, educator, and contemporary ritualist. They have  collaborated with local artists and produced community events of all sizes, developing Los Angeles’ world class cultural ecosystem for over 25 years.

DeLa has worked for USC School of Dramatic Arts, East West Players, the Pasadena Playhouse, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, About Productions, TeAda Productions, FilAm Arts, and Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles among others.

De La Cruz was Executive Producer of the LA premiere of the Broadway musical ALLEGIANCE (2018, EWP & JACCC). DeLa co-lead the founding of the Vallejo Arts Fund (2023), a project informed by the needs of Vallejoans, administered by Center for Cultural Innovation, facilitated by Three Palms Group, and funded by the Hewlett Foundation. Finally, De La Cruz serves on the shared leadership team for the Network of Ensemble Theaters.

Dan Kwong is an award-winning performance artist, playwright, director, and documentary videomaker known for innovative storytelling about identity and community. He began presenting his work nationally and internationally in 1989 and shortly thereafter became affiliated with Great Leap as a performer, director, producer and facilitator on many projects.

He is recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, and many more. Other major awards include: Outstanding Mid-Career Artist from the California Community Foundation; Outstanding Mid-Career Artist from Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department; Outstanding Contributions to Japanese American culture from the Japanese American Historical Society, and the Santa Monica Artist Fellowship.

Since 2023 his all-consuming passion has been the Manzanar Baseball Project, including ballfield restoration and exhibition doubleheader, at Manzanar National Historic Site in Owens Valley.

Kwong is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Mentor Resident Artist at 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica since 1992.

Nobuko Miyamoto is a songwriter, dance and theater artist, and founder of Great Leap.

A child of Japanese American WWII relocation, early dance training led to a career in films and Broadway musicals. As an activist in the 70’s Asian American movement, she found her own voice, co-creating with Chris Iijima and Charlie Chin seminal album A GRAIN OF SAND.

From 1978 to 2024 she led Great Leap as Artistic Director, forging a creative practice thriving on community and collaboration, continuing today with a fire for justice.

In her eighth decade, Nobuko still performs concerts of her music. Her album 120,000 Stories was released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2020, and memoir Not Yo' Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love, and Revolution was published by University of California Press in 2021. She is the subject of the 2024 PBS SoCal documentary: Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song In Movement.