Thursday, May 14 at 3PM and 8PM
Join Making Moves online on Thursday, May 14 for for their second virtual Making Moves livestream!
For Making Moves 17, Maura García (a Making Moves favorite) will provide a glimpse into the creative process of her current work-in-progress, Ancestor Dances. The event will be streamed twice on May 14th, once at 3pm and once at 8pm (CST). The event will be LIVE on Facebook Live.
In this performance demonstration and creative process showing, Maura will discuss “the individuals that inspired the movements, paired with the movements themselves and matching music… and then explore what happens when [she] breaks it open and rearranges entirely with different music.” More about Maura below.
The event is FREE and open to the public. All ages are welcome.
A monthly gathering, Making Moves provides a platform for local movers and makers to create, produce, and share new choreographic works. Making Moves aims to build community through a shared passion for dance and movement. The series is produced by Kyle Mullins and made possible by Charlotte Street Foundation.
Photo by Jenny Wheat
Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) is a dance artist who creates contemporary Indigenous performance. Her work is powered by a desire to perpetuate ancestral knowledge, actively respect the living earth and bring happiness to people. Maura’s artistic creations reflect the power of stories to form and change our realities. Through narrative-driven choreography and beat-embracing movement she seeks to form connections, empower Indigenous cultural values and explore the rhythms of the natural world.
Both as a soloist and with ensembles, she has performed throughout North America, notably at: ArtsCenter (NC), Atlas Performing Arts Center (DC), The Dance Centre (BC, Canada), Dance Place (DC), Disney World (FL), Embassy of Senegal (DC), Kansas City Repertory Theater (MO), La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (NY), Lawrence Arts Center (KS), Links Hall (IL), New York Theater Workshop (NY), Rhythmically Speaking Festival (MN), Talking Stick Festival (BC, Canada), Unedited Series (SC), University of Arizona, University of South Carolina, Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival (ON, Canada), Walker Arts Center (MN) and the Woodland Cultural Centre (ON, Canada).
In addition to dance for the stage, Maura choreographs for the outdoors and in response to specific places. Her first commission was a performance for the Charleston Library Society (SC) incorporating interviews with library patrons, local Indigenous Natchez creation stories and audience participation. In 2015, the Ackland Art Museum (NC) commissioned her to make a performance in collaboration with sound artist Mark Gabriel Little in response to their featured exhibition. The following year, the inaugural event for Kansas City’s “Art in the Loop” outdoor performance series was a dance Maura created in collaboration with park passersby and city employees. In 2019, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presented a locally-specific remount of her work that took place in 3 different outdoor sites in northwest Arkansas.
As a fellow in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s 2016 Artist Leadership Program, she worked with members of the Kansas City Indian Center and local Indigenous artists to realize an 8-month long arts project exploring ancient and contemporary urban Indian identity. Maura is dedicated to collaborating within Indigenous communities to celebrate group narratives through dance and other art forms. To date she has partnered with numerous organizations to carry out workshops and long-term projects: American Indian Mothers (NC), First Nations Graduate Association (NC), First Nations Student Association at the University of Kansas, Haskell Indian Nations University (KS), Ikidowin Peer Educators and Acting Ensemble (MN), Kansas City Cherokee Community (KS/MO), Native Youth Inaugural Event (DC), Onkwehón:we – The Original People’s – Festival (ON, Canada) and Two Rivers Gallery (MN).
Maura is sought out for her community engagement and cultural advocacy work. She has facilitated master classes and residencies in the public schools, for national professional conferences, trauma support groups and universities. Through activist essays and panel speaking she has addressed issues from sustainability in the arts to the cultural rights of Native American students. Maura has completed both the Dismantling Racism Works and artEquity Facilitator Training programs.
She has been the recipient of numerous honors: Charlotte Street Foundation’s Urban Culture Projects Studio Residency Award (MO), guest artist studio award from the University of North Carolina’s Department of Dramatic Art (NC), Jewish Community Center’s Community Arts Fellowship Grant (KS), Full Circle: First Nations Performance development grant (BC, Canada), Rocket Grant Project Award (KS/MO), Heads in the Clouds development program (AB, Canada) and mentorship in the 2017 Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training program (national). Maura has served as an adjudicator for dance festivals and grants including the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, the NEA’s Art Works grant and the MAP Fund. She is currently a Western Arts Alliance Native Launchpad Artist.
Maura currently resides on A-ma-ye-(t)li, also known as turtle island. She believes that every interaction with a living being is an opportunity to positively affect the world. As she travels the world, she continues to seek out opportunities that will allow her to dance, connect and create with others.
