Storytellers, caregivers, world creators, and narrative disruptors, Black Femme/Women dancers have historically and are uniquely positioned to embody imagination and three-dimensional awareness lending to empathetic and affective leadership. Through print & audio interviews, Harnessing Our Gardens archives the necessity, impact, and journey of Black Femme/Women dance leaders.
Harnessing Our Gardens is presented by Victoria Lynn Awkward with mentorship from Phaye Polikoff-Chen, Nnenna Loveth, and Angelique M. C-Dina and funding from Mass Humanities: Expanding Mass Stories.
MENTOR | Angelique Motunrayo Folasade Àyìnkẹ́ C-Dina is a first-generation Afro-Indigenous embodied theatrical storyteller based in New England. They are a current CAMD PhD student at Northeastern University focusing on Black feminist narratives and embodied theatrical practices through research-based theatre. Her performance credits include: The Inferior Sex (Trinity Repertory Company), Soul Tapes (Brown/Trinity), An Octoroon (Gamm Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Gamm Theatre), and more. Their other accolades include: KCACTF finalist '21, National Young Playwright semi-finalist '21, Ronald McNair scholar '22, Lime Arts Twenty by Twenty Fringe Playwright'23 and Lin Manuel Miranda fellow '23, and Company One Volt Lab Playwright ‘24. They also serve as a research and design assistant for two Northeastern and City Of Boston projects. She thanks God, her ancestors, and her Black and Brown Indigenous community for guiding her journey. "Ashe."
MENTOR & EDITOR |Sarah “Nnenna Loveth” Umelo Uzoma Nwafor (they/she) is an Igbo lesbian poet, performer, and facilitator. Their work explores Black g*rlhood, Black queerness, Igbo Cosmology, Sensual play and rituals of healing. Nnenna published their debut chapbook, Already Knew You Were Coming, with Game Over Books in January of 2022 and has also been featured on Button Poetry, WBUR’s ARTery, VIBEs Magazine, Ujima #Wire, etc. When Nnenna is not creating they are somewhere being romanced by the intensity of life. When they speak, their ancestors are pleased.
LEAD ARTIST | Victoria Lynn Awkward Victoria Lynn Awkward is a multi-hyphenate creator, administrator, educator and the Director of VLA DANCE. She pursued her multiple interests at Goucher College and graduated with high honors in Dance, Visual Art and Secondary Education. As the Director of VLA DANCE she is researching how to lead with joy, pleasure, and breath in and outside of art making practices. This work is guided through the lineage of Black and queer liberation practitioners. Alongside directing VLA DANCE, Victoria is a freelance artist, who most recently choreographed for Huntington Theater, Company One Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, and Commonwealth Shakespeare. As a performer she has worked for Jasmine Hearn, Shura Baryshnikov, Jenna Pollack, and others. Victoria is also an educator having worked at Salem State University, Brown University, West End House, Middlesex School, and Urbanity Dance. She continues to deepen her teaching practices as a mentee with Midday Movement Series. Victoria is currently a Brother Thomas Fellow, and recipient of the Next Steps for Boston Grant Dance Program as well as a recipient of the Queer (Re)public Theater Offensive Residency. Through her work she aims to inspire people to pause and reflect on their actions towards themselves, their community and their environment
MENTOR | Phaye Poliakoff-Chen is an interdisciplinary artist and writer in Baltimore, MD. In addition to writing fiction and leading community arts programs, she has also had a long career in radio, producing documentaries for public radio about a variety of topics from prostitution to land use to immigration. She directed an urban youth media program, Uniquely Spoken, under the auspices of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and funded by the Open Society Foundation. Her collection of short fiction, The Art of Work, was published by Booktrope. Her work can also be found in Frontiers, Southern Exposure, and other publications. Phaye has enjoyed a long career in higher education, most recently at Goucher College, where she directed the Major in Interdisciplinary Studies and the Professional and Creative Writing program.
Currently, Phaye directs the arts and writing project Earl’s Place Arts (EPA) at Earl’s Place, a transitional housing facility for men experiencing homelessness in Baltimore. Phaye lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband Allen Chen. Taking great delight in transdisciplinary connections, Phaye travels frequently to collaborate with artists, writers, and other creators.
