Intimate Conversations with Dani Tirrell & guest jumatatu m. poe
Saturday, September 26, 2020
I am an artist, educator and organizer based in Sakimauchheen Ing (momentarily called Philadelphia) who grew up dancing around the living room and at parties with my siblings and cousins. My early exposure to concert dance was through African dance and capoeira performances on California college campuses where my Pan-Africanist parents studied and worked, and I started “formal” dance training in college with Umfundalai, Kariamu Welsh’s contemporary African dance technique as taught by C. Kemal Nance. My work continues to be influenced by various sources, including my foundations in those living rooms and parties, my early technical training in contemporary African dance, my continued study of contemporary dance and performance, my movement trainings with dancer and anatomist Irene Dowd around anatomy and proprioception, my sociological research of and technical training in J-sette performance with Donte Beacham. Through my artistic work, I strive to collaborate in the creation of better worlds for Black queer folks, to create lovingly agitating performance work that recognizes History as only one option for the contextualization of the present, and to continue to imagine options for artists’ economic and emotional thrivability.
Support jumatau through PayPal — financials@jumatatu.org
jumatatu headshot credit: Tayarisha Poe
