Bio

I'm not one for writing biographies. Journals and diaries, yes. Portraits of my dreams / days / nights. Yes. But to write about my work and its relation to me is a strange practice.

I live my life in poeme. I believe in love. I believe in self-expression.

swallowing / the sun
I remember very fondly the first danse I had. It was with Eddie, my father who introduced me to soul music of the 60's / 70's. The perfect danse. It was simple. I was wrapped in his arms, I can still remember the wind across my cheeks as he circled me around until I giggled. I must of have been eighteen months. Weléla. I remember how music, would touch my soul while living in California with my brother Jamal. Weléla. Linda, my mother and Eddie were hippies / mathematicians / bio-physicists / professors / violinists / fluent in french / photographers / collectors of poetry books / disco roller-skaters / black art hung in every room / they drove a Red VW camper van / grew afros / celebrated political savvy / cultivated fruit / vegetable gardens. Weléla.

I express myself through many forms, formats, and formulas. Danse / poeme / writing / performance. Swelling in my hands and feet, the point of destination of where I give my movement begins / now.

dream /state
Danse is in the moment and the truest sense of my soul's song. I speak my purest self through danse. Sacred / movement is how I communicate what I'm feeling and a place where I can commune with light / darkness. It is a storm, it is a woman getting the holy ghost, it is one - thousand sunrises. I like to compare it to going to sleep at night and dreaming. You never know what can happen in one night of time / travel.

My most delicious memory : When I became old enough, my mother took me to see The Dance Theater of Harlem at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. That evening the featured choreographer was the world – renowned Geoffrey Holder. I was captivated by Geoffrey's work and the women performing his choreography strutted, gleamed, and shone like diamonds. It was a pure experience. I whispered to my mother during intermission, “I want to be like them.”

fire/caught
I am honored that I am recognized as a dancer. But to be honest: danse found me. Choreography found me. I had no choice in the matter. I feel like it has always been with me, as if it is carved into my skin, and when danse departs, it takes a part of me with it as well.

carnival/ of birds
Life is one long performance piece. Day to day living as a city nomad, I give so much of myself I feel like I am always performing. I like to pull my inspirations from above and below, from heaven and hell, joy and pain, tension and release, love and hate, pushing all of this energy into my hands, my feet, and reaching for the sky.

Creating work through performative pieces, poeme, and writing has increased my knowledge of self. These art forms have taught me to unfold, to document love, how to be a better woman, how to create my own symbols / grammatical styles / invent punctuation / to write however I want / to shine the light in soiled - abandoned spaces, and how to use my dreams to describe my journey.

As I continue this life long journey, I pray that this is yet another release of my humanity / birdsong diary.

Carry it with you

Weléla Mar Kindred

Creative Spaces I call home:
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The Alvin Ailey American Danse Theater
Dance New Amsterdam New York
Centre National Danse Paris
St. Joseph Ballet Company
Joel Hall Danse Center
Homer Bryant Ballet
Deeply Rooted
HB Studios

*Photo: Matthew Woods / Taken in his home / Summer 2011