​I begin with the following core questions:

​In What Ways Do I Feel Silenced?
In What Ways Do I Feel Amplified?
​How Do My [daily/creative/professional] Practices Silence Or Amplify Others?

Silence | Amplification at its surface is an auditory metaphor,
yet I am drawing on it to engage in a multi-sensory endeavor:
what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, and how we move.

I have become more acutely aware of impulses that are quieter or louder than others, 
​and so amplification/silence goes beyond the auditory in that sense... its about consciousness....

I want to make space for all the possibilities these two terms hold -
the multiplicity and complexity of meanings, values, and connotations. 
Silence | Amplification process with Spelman Dance Theatre, creating the work "Shine Theory." September - November, 2016.
Presentation of "Shine Theory, Pt. 1" at Studio Sessions #3 presented by the Spelman College Department of Dance. November 18 &19, 2016.
The cast and I began our process with conversations about ‘silence’ and 'amplification’ as terms that serve as dual metaphor for oppression and empowerment. We asked, “How are we silenced? How are we amplified? How in our daily practices do we silence or amplify others?” We engaged in multimodal research through discussion, journaling, poetry, and improvisation. Our movement research led us to the concept of ‘shine theory,’ described as a mode of support amongst women — particularly women of color — who seek to counter marginalization by asking, “How can we identify, reflect, and amplify each other’s contributions, work, innovations? How can we shine light on each other’s ideas, stories, and experiences?”

We used silence/amplification and shine theory in our creative process to generate this collaborative work that relies heavily on spontaneous encounters and reciprocal relationships. The dancer’s created gestures and phrases from conversational prompts, resulting in a collective movement aesthetic that is unique to this cast. Call and response, mirroring, making space and near misses (or full on collisions) are consistent themes amidst an ever-changing piece. Interwoven into this material is phrase work that I shared with the dancers generated through my ongoing embodied investigation of the ways in which Africanist aesthetics are inscribed, silenced, and/or amplified in my movement.