In the performing arts field, the KNOWbody can be someone that has put in work, sacrificed, performed, toured, taught, studied internationally, employed people, given back to their communities, received financial 20

compensation, awards, and accolades for their contributions and virtuosity, but, because they don’t have the money, administrative support, a mouthpiece, the capacity to promote themselves aggressively, the cameras were not there, or, their path never aligned them with “a contract”, a staff, a degree, a traditional job, television, Broadway, a famed choreographer, performance ensemble, academic institution, or presenting organization, that which is highly valued as art in North American culture, they exist as breath in the lungs of the performing arts world. Join Adia Tamar Whitaker as she discusses her life as a KNOWbody, and celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Àṣẹ Dance Theatre Collective. 

 

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Adia Tamar Whitaker, Artistic Director of the 20-year old Brooklyn based dance theater ensemble Àṣẹ Dance Theatre Collective, has performed contemporary dance, vernacular movement, Afro-Haitian, and Haitian dance in the U.S. and abroad for eighteen years. Whitaker has traveled to Haiti, Cuba, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad, to study and teach dance. Whitaker received an MFA in Dance from Hollins University, a BA in Dance from San Francisco State University, and completed the Professional Division U.S. Independent Studies Program at The Ailey School. She was also an Urban Bush Women Apprentice, a Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography @ FSU Creative Entry Point Choreographic Fellow, a Jerome Foundation grantee and Isadora Duncan Award recipient. Most recently, Whitaker was granted a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Award in Choreography and completed her second year of Dunham Technique Certification. 

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