My first DAW (Dancers at Work) piece at Marymount Manhattan College is centered around my story of my journey navigating identity through culture and how that has shaped my expression. I want to continue to bring light to the manipulation of my culture through the history and context before slavery, during, and post-slavery/civil rights that still impact today. My work specifically relates to my experience coming from down south to New York as well as entering a predominantly white liberal arts school to major in dance. The journey of navigating culture shock, awareness of the community, and self-growth. Throughout, a lot of what I knew was lost, confused, misunderstood, and uncomfortable due to seeking validation from an elitist system that was designed to exclude me and my culture yet utilize it for capitalization. I had to unlearn what had made me so successful back at home in the world of academia that I have now realized is my greatest downfall when it comes to knowledge of what academia is rooted in and stems from. Through understanding the expression of my history of who I am and what I come from and why that is so important to society, I was reestablished. I went through having to learn how to best articulate myself because I was not given the knowledge or tools of how to do so. I am involving my experience in my studies and applying it by doing continuous research not just in school but in my personal studies, in community, and in the workfield to spread knowledge and pass down to others who have experienced or have the chance of experiencing similar things so that they don’t have to learn by experience. That their expression is appreciated and has no limitations based on a set standard.
