Tell us about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?

I am a dancer, a storyteller, and a facilitator. I focus on dance of the African-diaspora and on a horsemanship style called Liberty Horsemanship. This type of horsemanship builds relationships with horses through understanding their body language and emotional intelligence. There is an important connection between African-rooted dance and learning the wisdom of horses. They both revolve around rhythm, movement, mirroring, witnessing and sharing emotion/feeling. I believe the intersection of these two embodied practices offers an invitation to building empowered community and connecting across differences in a non-violent way. I am interested in the way they invite us into our bodies and into incredible states of communication, imagination, play, connection, and non-predatory leadership.

Tell us about some projects you have worked on. Which one was your favorite and why?

My favorite project I have worked on so far is a film that I recently collaborated on with Amber Wilmore-Hurley entitled "Invocation". It is a dance film that takes place in nature with 3 horses. It captures the freedom, fierceness, and tenderness I feel both when I dance and when I am in the energy of horses when they are free. In the film, I can witness the sense of beauty and spirit that I feel from working with these incredible animals and from dancing with the earth. This power is indescribable in words and yet I feel it is successfully translated through this piece of art.

What other art or artists have been inspirational to you in your work?

One of the most inspirational artists in my life is Camille A. Brown. I have only seen her perform twice. Both times were pivotal moments for me. Through watching her, I was able to understand the power of dance and both times I chose to commit/re-commit my life to dance. In her performance, I experienced something that was deeply spiritual. The rhythm and spirit she channeled held a language so familiar and infinitely resonant with my struggle, pain, joy and the stories of my body. I was moved to tears and flooded with mercy and forgiveness. It was deep!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

The best advice I have gotten was from my mom and is about discernment. This is a part of a piece I actually made about it:

"Have you ever noticed that you can talk to some people

and the words just don’t come out right?

But then there are others

with whom you can speak

and you don’t even have to think. Your words just flow.

My mom calls this being listened into speaking."

The advice is about learning to notice - to discern - who listens to you, who invites you to be most fully and easily yourself. And to know you deserve this kind of attention.

Where can we find your work?

You can check out my portfolio at: JamilaJacksonPortfolio.com and learn more about the leadership project I direct at EmbodiedLeadershipProject.org

To be featured as our artist of the week, please email ncfa@nohoarts.org.

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