The artistic pilgrimages that performers have to take to realize their potential are often challenging, and interesting, roads. Kamal Sinclair's on-going journey is reflected in the Beat and in the inception of Universal Arts. Sinclair grew up in Los Angeles and has been dancing her entire life. She has also been traveling the world since childhood, studying the dances of a myriad of cultures. As an eighth grader, she choreographed for the Wild Fire Theater Group while touring Southeast Asia for five months. While attending the High School of the Arts in Los Angeles, she gained her first directing experience at the helm of a black history show. To date, she has been to Germany, Brazil, Chile, and West Africa. Thanks to her, tribal Gambian dances and Capoeira make their way into the Beat, along with hip-hop, jazz, and funk.

While studying at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a class of 900 freshmen actors, Sinclair began to develop her philosophy: every single artist has something unique to offer, and can accomplish his or her goals without squashing or inhibiting another's performance.

During the fall of 1998, Kamal, together with Fractured Atlas Productions, founded Universal Arts, a group dedicated to getting together as many different genres of art to communicate different philosophies. Its inspiration is the idea that truth is too big for any one perspective to encompass. Universal Arts delivers on its philosophy by using dance, music, hip-hop and poetry to bring forth a celebration of the power of music as a force for social unity and spiritual transcendence. It's rare when a performance can showcase every single performer's strong talents and still maintain a balance--but the Beat does it.