Pa'lante
About the Film
In a world of endless victories on the track, PA’LANTE tells the story of Afro - Latina twin siblings who dominate every race except the most elusive one: navigating the complexities of being human.
Director: Karisma Jay
Producers: Karisma Jay, Massiel Mordan
United States // 2025 // Suitable for All Ages // Los Shorts
18 minutes
About the Filmmaker
True to her name, Brooklyn-native, Karisma Jay is the epitome of Multi-Hyphenate. Award-winning Dancer, Actress, Singer, Director, Playwright, Choreographer, Wellness Coach, Teacher, Entrepreneur and Host, she has performed/toured with prestigious dance companies and has been featured in programs aired on Netflix, Lifetime, BET, MTV, NBC, and VH1.
She is a City College Mathematics Education Master’s certificate Student. Teaching dance since the tender age of 11, she has honed her skills of working with children and adults to develop the confidence and charisma of even the shyest, youngest and/or oldest of students. She has performed/toured with prestigious dance companies such as Brooklyn Ballet, Deeply Rooted, Maimouna Keita, Creative Outlet, Asase Yaa, and Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence. In 2013, Karisma joined STOMP. In 2016, Family Circle magazine coined her a “Local Hero” and Lifetime TV featured her as a Female Entrepreneur to Watch. Most recently, she won the “Power Women in Business” for her work as the Executive Artistic Director and Founder of AbunDance Academy of the Arts.Annually, she writes, directs, produces and co-stars in musicals that AbunDance Academy presents. She just recently graduated Summa Cum Laude with her MFA in Dance at Hunter College while also teaching Dance and Culture at Hunter as an Undergraduate Faculty Member. Currently, she is teaching West African Dance at The Juilliard School and Ballet Tech as well as Dance, Digital Media and Diasporic Forms at Medgar Evers College, Broadway Dance Center and LaGuardia HS. She worked on Broadway as a choreographic apprentice with the Broadway show, David Byrne’s American Utopia and she is a Dance Teacher Magazine’s 2021 Dance Teacher Award Recipient and a recipient of Assembly member Brian Cunningham’s 2023 Woman of Distinction Award. In May 2023, she premiered CROWN, a short film she co-directed and co-wrote @crownthefilm. In May 2025, she released her second film, Pa'Lante, a love letter to her native home, Panama @palantethefilm and in 2025, She was accepted into Columbia University's Doctoral Degree program in Interdisciplinary Dance Education. With a mission to lead by example, she helps everyone who crosses paths with her to flourish AbunDantly.
