San Francisco, CA
Adia Tamar Whitaker is one of the youngest professional choreographers and master teachers of Afro-Haitian folkloric dance in the United States. A former member of Blanche Brown’s Group Petit La Croix and Colette Eloi’s Reconnect, she has studied and performed Afro-Haitian dance in the U.S. and abroad for 13 years. Her artistic work focuses on neo-folklore of the African Diaspora, linking contemporary modern dance, original vernacular movement, and traditional dance theater. Recently Whitaker completed the first part of a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study grant in Ghana. Her new project combines dance, media and music inspired by “ampey,” a rhythmic game played by little girls in Ghana.
“Ampey!”
“Ampey!” is a multidisciplinary theater, music and dance piece that explores the spiritual, emotional and physical disconnect between African-Americans and Continental Africans. Choreographed and written by performance artist Adia Tamar Whitaker, “Ampey!” breaks open the paradigms that each culture grasps onto in regards to identity and social construct.