Ama Ma’at Gora is a Philly based multidisciplinary artist, educator and choreographer. She received her BFA in Dance from Georgian Court University. Shortly after, she chose to continue her education in dance at Temple University where she received her MFA. These experiences lent her opportunities to work with choreographers such as, Kariamu Welsh, Lela Aisha Jones, Earl Moseley, Sidra Bell, Gregory King, Silvana Cardell and more. Previously, at Drexel she served as Community Based Learning Director overseeing artistic civic engagement, now she serves as an adjunct professor teaching Afro Modern and choreographing for Drexel’s Fresh Dance. An avid believer in collaboration, she worked with Lela Aisha Jones as a co-teacher at Bryn Mawr College. At Bryn Mawr she was able to practice her pedagogical framework, expanding the possibilities within the collegiate classroom. Leading and directing Ma’at Works Dance Collective has allowed her to make all dancing bodies visible. She began Ma’at Works in hopes of putting more black femme, queer, trans and fat folk on stage. Her works push controversial dialogue surrounding identity, trauma, restoration and reimagining. Adamant about building safe spaces, Gora is co-founder of The Juba House, a co-creation space for black, queer artist living near and around the West Philly community. She has been recognized as a dance artist dedicated to serving the community through transformative art by the Leeway Foundation, where she received the 2020 Transformation Award. As she continues to create work she is excited to announce her participation in the 2022 New Dance Alliance Black Artists Space to Create Residency.
Congratulations on your Performance Mix #34: Remotely Yours initiative. I hope you all feel delighted with the experience. I must admit that it challenged me to do something a little bit out of my zone. But I am quite happy with the outcome. The first project featuring my son! It will be an unforgettable moment when we will look back at it in a few years.
– Mélanie Demers
New Dance Alliance
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