Artist Statement

I am a multimodal artist; a singer, dancer, actress, poet, choreographer and a writer.  I design theatrical performance experiences that weave all of these mediums. I bring athletic agility to vocal performance by singing and dancing in unison, eliminating the boundary between the visual and audio experience weaving sentiment and storytelling through poetry and monologues. Each performance piece is designed to give a glimpse into the sometimes dark and complex emotional spaces people experience that seem elusive and ever present.

More about me…

When growing up in Southfield and going to church in Detroit sometimes 5 days per week, I was steeped in the rich cultural heritage of the Black church. The experience of music in church seared itself into my spirit. I didn't know then but those experiences would define my approach to performance and my creative process. The Black Church Musical Experience (BCME) defines my choreography's structure and organic evolving nature. The BCME follows the format: sing, scat/speak in tongues,constantly flowing from one form of expression to another. When choreographing my performance experiences, they happen similarly: dance, sing, poem, monologue repeat.

My choreography was inspired by Pearl Ann Porter's improvisational storytelling, Camille A.Brown's nuanced and abstract storytelling through gesture, and the dynamic athleticism of Darrell Grand Moultrie, which feels like a quintessential expression of the American spirit, vibrant, sharp, and free. These are choreographers I've worked with who's influences serve as a compass for my choreography.

Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Davis, Erykah Badu and India Arie are some of the musical artists who have inspired my work. Each of them have drastically  different backgrounds and one thing in common, they are all African American women who were born and raised in the US. What a specific experience. Even though they are all stylistically so different, they all have a certain potency of performance, insistence on clarity of style, superb delivery and quality of performance that feels distinctly like an African American expression. I see myself among them.

The writings of Angela Davis have been a guide to removing the context of dominant culture from historical events. Giving way to the more likely experiences Black women have been having since we are not members of dominant culture.

My work is acknowledgement and expression of the experiences of African American women. Multilayered, interwoven, shining light filtered through many cultural layers.

This image appears courtesy of Lois Greenfield Photography.  For more on her work visit: www.loisgreenfield.com