Tamara Williams fell in love with dance at a very young age. As a young girl who was raised in a home that cultivated a culture of dance, the Georgia native spent many evenings gracefully moving underneath the disco ball and lights in her childhood home. On many occasions, a young Tamara—along with her sister—would “go to town” dancing and moving to the sounds of Prince and Michael Jackson as family and friends enjoyed the night’s entertainment.
It was the epitome of community, dance and fun.
“That is something that I’ve cultivated throughout the years, something that my parents instilled in me very young, of seeing this power of dance bringing people together,” Tamara told THE BLOCK. “Just enjoying each other, enjoying life, enjoying the youth and enjoying the older people in the room.”
Those early dance experiences—which include her older sister teaching her ballet—planted the seeds that have blossomed throughout Tamara’s life and career and eventually led to Moving Spirits, Inc., a New York City-based dance company she founded in 2011.
Moving Spirits—which has a second dance company in Charlotte—was a result of Tamara’s desire to tell the narratives of Black folks who don’t have a platform or access to tell their own stories, she told us. These untold stories are told through dance performances, workshops and residencies.
While the stories are important, the legacies of Black people and Black culture are equally significant because they’ve impacted society as a whole and Black culture is the foundation for many dances we know, Tamara explained.
At the center of the work is the African diaspora. Since the start, the organization has researched, cultivated, performed and produced stories that are told through ballet, modern, contemporary West African and African diaspora dance forms.
The African Diaspora really stuck with me, as a black woman in the United States. it really gave me an outlet to understand more about Black culture and about Black people.
Tamara Williams
Tamara’s extensive dance experience, education and her travels to places such as Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad and Jamaica inspires the work that she does with her dance company and her work as a professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As Assistant Professor of Dance at UNCC, she teaches everything from dance traditions that were brought to the United States through the transatlantic slave trade and African Brazilian dance to Black dance in the Americas and dance in the community.
As an educator she realizes the importance of using dance to educate not only her students but also the community about dance and its shared history among cultures represented in the African diaspora.
Telling the narratives of people and cultural and folklore dances comes with great responsibility, which Tamara doesn’t take lightly. Take Samba, a Brazilian dance, for example. It’s typically portrayed as a fun dance where women wear feathers on their heads and high heels on their feet but there’s a lot of history of persecution and deaths that precedes, Tamara told us.
“People weren’t allowed to practice Samba,” she said. “The Samba that you see portrayed in this very fun kind of way is actually not the Samba of the people. The people of Brazil practice Samba as part of their religion. For them, the dance is sacred.”
It’s this notion of sacredness that leads back to community. When given the honor of telling cultural stories, it’s the elders and the people of the community’s input that’s most needed.
For Tamara, community is a significant aspect of the work. For this reason, it’s not a prerequisite for performances, residences and workshops to be held on a stage. In the past, Dancing in the Parks brought dance performances from various companies, community programs, local artists and resources directly to the community.
Tamara’s inspiration comes from having the physical ability to move and tell stories with each new day. The past and future generations are also motivation.
“I’m really inspired by young people,” she said.” I’m really inspired by the elders who have been here, who have done this work and maybe haven’t always had the recognition or support.”
To connect with Tamara, follow her on Instagram and visit her website.
*Photo courtesy of Michael Shi.
