MK Abadoo

MK Abadoo (she/they) has been engaged in active Zen Buddhist training since 2009 with the Mountains and Rivers Order, where from 2012 until 2020 she was a formal student of Shugen Roshi, and is currently a retreat teacher. Throughout this time they've complemented their Zen training by practicing with People of Color (POC) communities within the Insight Meditation Society, attending annual POC retreats lead by teachers such as Dara Williams, Gina Sharpe, Bonnie Duran, Bhante Buddharakkhita, Devin Berry, Kamala Masters and Jaya Rudgard among others. She is currently an active member of the Still Breathing Zen Sangha, an all Black women Zen community led by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho.

Abadoo's creative work exist at the crux of dance theater, anti-racist cultural organizing, and critical education studies. Considered a “rising star” by Dance Magazine, they craft dance events that combine Africanist, funky/family kitchen dances, and post-modern movement vocabularies with site activating audience and community engagement. MK’s creative practice is rooted in the justice work of Angela’s Pulse, Urban Bush Women, Gesel Mason Performance Projects and the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, where she is a trainer in Undoing Racism® and Community Organizing. Abadoo is also an assistant professor in the Department of Dance + Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and in the Racial Equity, Arts, and Culture Core of VCU’s ICubed, the Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry & Innovation.