a modest festival by founder and playwright J Dakota Powell, the project blossomed into a series with over 50 original works and the participation of over 150 artists.” Among the artists who participated in the festival were Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, Olympia Dukakis, Isabella Rossellini, Alec Baldwin, John Turturro, Amy Irving, Elias Koteas, Ann Reinking, Eli Wallach, Fisher Stevens, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Paul Rudd, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Patric, Amanda Peet, Sam Waterston, Holly Hunter, Scott Cohen and Joel Grey. Early career Powell won a scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. For four years, she trained as a classical dancer under Meredith Bayliss, Ann Parsons, Richard Gibson and Basil Thompson, and performed at the City Center with the Joffrey Ballet in Petrouchka. She spent six months on scholarship with the Pennsylvania Ballet under the tutelage of Benjamin Harkarvy, Lupe Serrano and Robert Rodham. Background Powell is the direct descendant of Isaac T. Hopper, a Hicksite Quaker and known as the father of the underground railroad. Her great grandfather, Wilson Marcy Powell Sr., was a Harvard lawyer who was on the original board of the NAACP, treasurer of the New York State Bar Association, head of Harvard Law School’s endowment and President of New York Hospital. Her grandfather, Wilson Marcy Powell, a Harvard physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, was a tenured professor of Physics at University of California, Berkeley. Powell graduated cum laude from Yale University with a BA in Economics & Political Science. She completed an MPS at the Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University. References External links Szewczyk, Stacey (16 July 2015). "Mythos & Moxie: Building Virtual Worlds At A VR Hackathon” Tech Times. Woods, Byron “How Mao?” IndyWeek Zomorodi, Manoush (10 September 2002). “BBC: Drama-thon Touches New York.” BBC News. Rosati, Nancy (20 August 2002). “Talkin' Broadway - What's New on the Rialto?” Talking Broadway. Weber, Bruce (11 September 2002). “New York Times: Theatre as Solace in a Time of Anguish” The New York Times Weber, Bruce (13 September 2002). “New York Times: Mountains of Mourning, Vistas of Better Days” The New York Times Bandler, Michael J. (6 September 2002). “Department of State Washington File: America's Cultural Community Confronts 9/11” Washington File Lipson, Karin (6 September 2002). “New York’s Theater Artists Pull Together for Attack Memorial” Los Angeles Times “Rebuilding NYC: September 11 Theater” Gotham Gazette Chang, Richard (28 June 2011).