As a dancer, choreographer, and educator from Jamaica, Queens, my creative practice explores the intersections of Black social dance, motherhood, photography and storytelling. I use movement as a living archive — a way to document emotion, memory, and cultural identity through the body.
My movement style is rooted in whacking, house, hip hop, and Krump, my work embodies the spirit of resistance and joy that defines Black club culture while seeking to connect those histories to present-day experiences of family, community, and self-determination.
Through my company NuTribe Dance Company (NTDC), I create ritual-based performances that blend dance, spoken word, and live music. NTDC is composed of 5 core dancers. When funds allow I’m able to invite artists outside of the company to work with us. During rehearsal my process begins with community dialogue between dancers, we have a touch base. Our rehearsals often center storytelling and cultural reflection — dancers engage in conversations about history, pain, and liberation as part of the process. This allows the work to emerge not only as performance but as a collective act of remembrance and healing.
My artistic goal is to build spaces where movement becomes both testimony and legacy. With the support of this grant, I will develop “Movement Mamas – Letters to our Children” — a multidisciplinary project inviting artist mothers to record a poem and create a short dance as a visual letter to their children. The venue will also have a photo documentary series showcasing pictures of families and short interviews to accompany them. Each piece will honor the dual labor of art-making and motherhood, transforming personal narratives into collective expressions of love, endurance, and creativity.
Ultimately, my practice is about bridging the ancestral and the contemporary — affirming that every step, gesture, and story we share contributes to a larger archive of Black womanhood, motherhood, and artistry.
CoCoMotion will present a mixed-media performance featuring still photography of parents with their children. In addition, they will expand and revamp a solo from their work Movement Mamas.
“My creative history with New Dance Alliance goes a way long. Since my friend, Chivas Sandage brought me to New Dance Alliance to rehearse in early 90’s, the place has become a part of my creative life. The long time existence of the studio and Performance Mix Festival are vital to the artists who seek and explore deep into their process. Whenever I step into the studio, it’s a new space with a lot of memories. I lie down on the floor, listen to my body, and I dance. It is valuable. The time in the space nurtures my practice and artistic vision. Karen’s vision of Lift-Off residency, feedback sessions, providing peer to peer connections are more significant than ever. It has been helping us to get through 2020 and we are going into 2021.”
– Nami Yamamoto
New Dance Alliance
182 Duane Street
New York, NY 10013
All venues are wheelchair accessible.
