upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
Kariamu’s work as a dancer, choreographer, and educator seeks to tell stories, relate history, and retrieve myths, legends, and narratives that speak to the struggle and strengths of the African diaspora. Also known lovingly as “Mama Kariamu,” she uses movement vocabulary that reflects and challenges oppression and injustice. Over 40 years ago, she developed the Umfundalai dance technique as a means to see and accept each other in the present moment. Since then, it has been the vehicle through which she creates, as it reflects her history, aesthetic, and heritage. Kariamu does a number of outreach programs a year, which have targeted women in prisons and teenagers at risk. Her work crosses generations and sheds light on the lives of marginalized people.