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About

Our Manifesto

Our dance world was pummeled by COVID-19 and Black dance artists are finding ways to talk about life during this time. Our world was further turned upside down after horrible events ensued nationally and globally, bringing attention, yet again, to the need for the Black Lives Matter movement. Black dance artists have not been quiet since. Black dance artists have been doing the work. Black dance artists continue to make work. To stay involved, we will hold weekly impromptu discussions and tell stories – Black Dance Stories.” This is one action – we will stay involved.

Our Team

Charmaine Warren

Artistic Director & Founder

I am a performer, historian, consultant and dance writer. I began the online series "Black Dance Stories" in June 2020. I am the founder/producer and artistic director for "Dance on the Lawn:" Montclair's Dance Festival, and the Producer of DanceAfrica at BAM. I have been a co-curator for Harlem Stage's dance series, EMoves for 11...

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Cynthia Tate

Publicist and Creative Strategist

Cynthia Tate is a publicist and creative strategist with a background in performing arts, non-profit, and entertainment. She is a firm believer in the stewardship for diversity and inclusion within arts and entertainment. With 10+ years of experience in communications and community engagement, she launches cultural and community...

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Fanta Bello

Email Communications

Fanta Ballo is a senior at the University at Albany currently majoring in Economics with a minor in Theatre. Fanta is a poet, artist and activist and uses spoken word to advocate for issues Fanta feels passionate about. Fanta is the email communications intern and I work closely with Kimani Fowlin.

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Gabriel-Lee Dekoladenu

Web Developer

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Kimani Fowlin

Managing Director

Kimani is a dancer, choreographer, and educator. She has been awarded the New York State Dance Education Association’s Outstanding Dance Educator Award. Fowlin is an assistant professor of dance and the director of the Dance Program at Drew University. Her work abroad includes performing and teaching in Russia as part of the...

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Makeda Roney

Director of Production

Makeda Roney (she/her/hers) is a fourth generation artist based in unseated Lenape Nation land known as Harlem, New York. Living in this physical experience as a life, body, and energy alchemist, creative visionary, professional dance artist, and Body Alignment/Pilates coach. Makeda came out of the womb feeling most at home expressing...

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Renee Redding Jones

Director of Finance

Renee Redding Jones, Director of Development, received her Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University as a Physical Education major, minoring in Dance. She continued her studies in dance at Sarah Lawrence College where she received the degree of Master of Fine Arts. As a professional dancer Renee performed nationally and...

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Tony Turner

Photographer / Graphic Artist

Tony Turner comes from a family of artists. Influenced by his father Juanza Turner a graphic artist and photographer, Tony has been drawing since he could hold a pencil. He began with 35mm photography and was later trained in graphic design from free-hand drawing to computer graphics. Tony has taught photography to students in Newark...

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Past Team Members

Antonio Burkett

ASL Interpreter

Antonio Burkett, by way of Pine Bluff, Arkanasas, is an American Sign Language <> English interpreter in the District of Columbia metropolitan area, including Maryland / Southern Maryland, and Virginia. He is also a trained Video Relay Service interpreter, as required by the Federal Communications Commission. He is also the first, Black...

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Ariana Speight

Freelance Dancer & Yogi

Ariana Speight (she/her/hers), a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Africana Studies, is a contemporary artist invested in researching the curiosities of life through various mediums. Originally from Los Angeles, she had the opportunity to dance abroad at the Jerusalem...

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Jarry Fall

Intern

Jarry Fall is a sophomore at Drew University majoring in computer science and minoring in dance! Jarry Fall has been dancing for sixteen years and is happy to be continuing a different learning experience with Black Dance Stories. Jarry's main focus in dance has mostly been ballet, contemporary, musical theatre and jazz, so it has been...

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Kaitlyn Chandler

Video Editor

Kaitlyn Chandler is an all-around creative and technical video troubleshooter working with BDS to produce and stream each episode. She graduated from Memphis College of Art with a BFA in Digital Cinema, and now works full time at BAM as a Video Editor and Motion Designer. When not streaming episodes of Black Dance Stories, she uses her...

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Korka Fall

Intern

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Makeda Smith

Director of Digital Media

Born in Los Angeles, CA, and raised in Richmond, VA, Makeda Smith received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Temple University in 2013. Combining her passion for dance/performing and visual art, and years of experience in fashion retail management and merchandising, Makeda took a leap of faith to move on from Corporate America in...

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Maya Addie

Intern

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Nicholas Xavier Hall

Dancer

was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Montclair, NJ where he received his dance training from the Sharron Miller Academy of the Performing Arts and the New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble. As a student at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, Hall performed Miki Orihara and Tadej Brdnik’s restaging of Martha Graham’s...

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Travone Evans

Producer | Social Media Specialist | Live Stream Manager

Travone Evans is a Content Creator and Editor from Los Angeles, CA. He graduated with a BA in Theater Arts from Alabama State University. He now operates a boutique multi-media production company creating content and managing live streams for companies, particularly in the African diaspora. In his spare time, you can find Travone...

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