Choreographer Makeda Thomas (of Roots and Wings Movement!) called from Trinidad to speak with me about the tragic killing of her colleague, Augusto Cuvilas, one of Mozambique's most celebrated dance artists. Although the sound quality of this phone interview is not ideal, the information she presents is very important, and time is of the essence. Makeda has been invited to join with South African choreographer Boyzie Cekwana to complete a project that the three were working on at the time of Cuvilas's death. For more information on how you can help, visit Makeda's site at www.makedathomas.org.
Makeda Thomas is from Trinidad & Tobago and has presented work at HARLEM Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Chicago Women's Performance Arts Festival, Maputo's Teatro Africa, Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA7), and as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. Her choreography has been commissioned by 651 ARTS Black Dance: Tradition & Transformation (2007) and received awards from the United States Embassy (2006 & 2005), Puffin Foundation (2005), New York State Council on the Arts (2005), Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation (2005), Arts International (2003), Yellowfox Foundation (2006), and the National AIDS Council of Moçambique (2005).
In 2004, during its 25th Anniversary season, she was named Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança. Graça Machel (Former First Lady of South Africa and Moçambique) serves as the Honorary Patron of her internationally acclaimed work, "A Sense of Place" (2005), on which she presented at the 1st Conference on New Perspectives in African Performing & Visual Arts. In 2007, she became a featured choreographer in ‘This Woman’s Work: Choreographic Development Project Representing Women of Color’ - joining Camille A. Brown, Bridget Moore, Shani Collins, Princess Mhoon Cooper, Francine Ott, & Ursula Payne.
As a dancer, Makeda Thomas has toured internationally in the companies of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Rennie Harris/ Puremovement, and independently with Robin Becker Dance, Lula Washington Dance Theater, and Stephen Koplowitz. She began her study in Brooklyn, New York with Michael Goring, continuing on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The Paul Taylor School and Hofstra University where she earned a B.A. in Dance and English.
Ms. Thomas has conducted research projects in South Africa and The Netherlands, artistic residencies in Hawaii and Florida; and arts in education projects with The Dalton School, Arts in Ed. Institute of Western NY, and NYC Dept. of Education. She continues to create dance works and perform internationally, while living in New York City & Port of Spain.
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(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
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