Kayla Harley

It was an honor and privilege to witness Founder and Senior Director of Dance Theater of Harlem Company + School, Arthur Mitchell in action at the Wallach Art Gallery in New York City. A special exhibition hosted by the Lenfest Center for the Arts celebrates his life and career as New York City Ballet's first African American star and his contribution to the Black History by introducing the first Classical Ballet Company for people of Color. The panels were adorned with images, billboards, newspapers, and writings from Mr. Mitchell himself. On this day, the man himself makes an appearance for a group of young students who have come to tour the exhibit and experience history. What he is doing is quite magical. Accompanied by his assistant--loyal company member of Dance Theatre of Harlem Paunika Jones who brings his world to life. She explains what is to means to wear pointe shoes or"toe shoes" as Mr. Mitchell describes it as she wraps each ribbon carefully around he...

The sound, the energy, the life of the island of Trinidad and Tobago.....or any other land in the Caribbean is the PEOPLE. Soca Music, a popular movement today by way of artists such as Machel Mantano, SuperBlue, Kes, Patrice Roberts and others derived from the sounds of Calypso....steel pan playing an instrument that is historically unique to the islands made from industrial waste: paint points, dustbins, oil drums, biscuit bins, car parts, and others. To be a Calypsonian is to embrace the richness of life on the islands, tell stories amongst family and friends, recall events of the day, make jokes and carry on with people in the community. After storming the band, dancing liming and feting with friends during Carnival the feathers began to weigh in on me. The sounds of popular songs played on the radio, the mention of Soca Kingdom and the familiarity of it all began to dull my excitement and enthusiasm. I felt like there was a part of that was missing, The Spirit of Carnival and...

The Makers arise early this morning to receive a local news reporter in Alberquerque KQRE Channel 13 doing a feature story on the Keshet Center for the Arts. I had the privilege of leading the dancers in a GYROKINESISⓇ seated class. It turned out to be just what we all needed to prepare our minds and bodies for a day of finalizing material and preparing for this evening's tech run. I took more time on my knees to acknowledge Most High and restore my spiritual and mental welfare.  I'm learning the ins and outs of social media marketing--balancing it out with my pursuits in academia, business planning, outreach, work life all while planning a vacation. WHEW! Talk about being a real Woman with real things going on: All At Once. Here's video of a more extensive description of what's to expect in the premiere of my work: " #blackgirlmagic " Art Work by JC Holland & Renee Colbert Look to the left! If you've got a Google Account Fol...

 There are so many possibilities and today as I integrate the artwork. I discovered during tech time new ways to interact with one of the posters that addresses girlhood, adolescence and the use of technology in an intimate space. There are 3 poster boards that depict the social trending hashtag sites: Brown Girls Do Ballet, Travel Noire and Black Girls Rock of which will be focused on in this piece. The story animates the still narratives of social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat exploring the moments that actually occur in real time. A childhood Fable Story poses the question: "Sugar and Spice and everything nice....that's what little Girls are made of..." but, What is a Black Girl made of? I've never read the book the Alchemist, popular literature that was a popular canon of work being passed around during my undergraduate college years. The word Alchemy simply means- the makings of of thing. It is my belief that Black Girl Magic is the comb...

We made our way into the cotton woods for another photo shoot adventure--Bradford and I. The plan was for me to join in support and offer some advice and curation but somehow I found inspiration in the hay color thistles and dry bark. I had a moment, where I picked up a stick thicker than your average switch branch and began to whip another trees branch skinning the bark and exposing it's green inner flesh. I considered for a moment my actions to be cruel and unruly until I realized that like the flesh of a human being...it'll grow back--mend itself again and for some time the moisture could stand to ooze out of the tree and absorb what bit of dew there was in the air. Brad and I had some special partnering moments, of weight bearing, lifting and sculpting. I just so happened to be wearing my Aunt Jemima scarf with a fro underneath because my hair is in transition from one braiding style to another loc style...and needed some time to breathe. Naturally it drew attention fr...

This morning was a combination of ambition and ambush. I awoke early this morning to begin writing the one of my many books--this one entitled "A Broke Dancers Guide to Success". After the business course yesterday where we highlighted the financial terms and discussed the basic outline for budgeting I was compelled to start my business plan, sooner than later. In a sense my book is a guideline for budgeting (of time) financial management skills and the like. I decided that there was no better time then now in such a peaceful and restful place to begin my process of writing and silence the voices of doubt, fear and defeat of my efforts. My ambition funneled into the need to conduct other affairs related to my life: the logistics. That is also the beauty of having time and space availed to you as an artist in a residency program being able to choose how you'd like to disperse it: creation, curation, cultivation, or cocooning. I am now sitting in theater where each ...

Today, I feel like dust. [Like Job] I began the day with the intent of GYROKINESISⓇ and suddenly forgot all about the sequences. So, I just moved. I realized that I didn't recognize myself or my body anymore....I'd told my body to do so many things imprinted codified techniques, terminology and repertoire but I didn't know where to start. I looked in the mirror and saw all of the appropriate identifiers: Woman, Black, Dancer, Afro....and so on....I decided I didn't want to take time a decipher what all of that meant. I had moments of frustration about moving in the familiar but thought of another Maker here and was inspired to break from those constricting places and keep twirling. Because that is what was happening....spinning around and around like Michael in Alonzo King LINES Ballet--trying to catch up to my own speed, thinking about how Lion King rejected me because I was too wild. Did, I tell you about my dream? I found myself on some sort of school bus with L...