BooN: A response by Keyierra Collins

Keyierra Collins responds to a prompt from PRJ2.0 presented in conjunction with the “Deconstructing Language: Liberationist Writing for Performance” workshop series during PRJ’s satellite residency in Summer 2021 with the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron.

Image created by Keyierra Collins

And I played it again and again…

Fell through space,

fought demons,

refuged in the valley,

and surrendered my doubts to expose now, then,

and never world

I gasped UP excitement…body told it all

I had found pause in the sweetest parts of me

I found my unparalleled reverence 

My melanated melodies swayed milky through new matter

Mixed loose limbs and gale to unravel again  

(It must have been a sight to see)

I got so high

From inside, a rumble of laughter left my belly…threw my head back making room for escape

The roll of my shoulders grabbed it, mid air; and shot it through my feet

I rocked steady to the vibrating  laughter holding my feet afloat…

I got used to me

Watched my sensuality come up from broken glass…

She smiled at me

Broke open my chest to make space for herself…

Without a doubt I saw me

As she snuggled in, my eyes opened like never before

I saw purple in the air 

It formed my curves long enough to suspend me in rapture…

I was always here with me

When was the last time I rushed in with no doubt

With no possessions of perspectives from outer world…

I hope she forgives me

Before, it was hard to breathe like this

Wasn’t easy to see purple the way I did 

To now dance in multiple dimensions because, this one ain’t big enough for all of me

Now see me…

My dark skin complementing these new garments

…complementing the sun

Making earth look good

Her people should thank me 

Give God thanks for existing in me 

For creating me in the space between Heaven and Dawn 

For giving me motion

For stacking these bones high enough to shadow my walking angels 

For all my fragments finding dance 

The places where my body folds; fold deeply into pillowed joints

An effortless relationship with spirit and form 

Now my turn…

I get to be at liberty 

Unchained from breaking bread to keep peace

From walking with my chest folded into my back 

I make disorder 

I outrage against white washed narratives 

Progress gracefully past fixed shapes fabricated to box me in

I spat cuss words 

Curse you on behalf of the ancestors and ask God for forgiveness later 

I’ll throw shards of mirrors you broke to deflect from your accountability

It’s my choice 

I choose choice, to exist fully in my resistance 

To bask in this pause forever 

To be in adoration with all the parts of me as I perform a lifetime of 

FUCK YOUS to a world that wasn’t cool enough to be Boon

[Writer’s Note: This series is based on my latest work in-development, How I found my feet again which is an explorative journey of me rediscovering myself as a movement artist. I use process, dance/movement, writing, and routines as tools for discovery. My NOW body, values, and current stage in life inform who I am now, in this moment in time as a movement artist. I utilized the tools offered by Brianna Alexis Heath during her “Deconstructing Language” workshop.]

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Keyierra Collins is an international dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist based in Chicago. In 2020 she was awarded the 3Arts/ Walder Foundation Awardee grant. As a dance artist Collins worked with artists like educator, international performer, and choreographer Onye Ozuzu as well as France-based Rwandan artist Dorothee Munyaneza. She also has had the pleasure of working with many Chicago based artists like Paige Cunningham, Emily Stein, Anna Martine Whitehead, and Sonita Surratt to name a few. Collins’ work explores how dance and movement can be used to heal trauma, particularly the collective and individual trauma experienced by people of the African diaspora. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2016 with a BA Dance.There she studied various dance forms, including West African, modern, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, and improvisation. Having toured and worked with artists in Haiti and Nigeria, Collins wants to continue to travel and collaborate with artists around the world.

You can find Brianna Alexis Heath’s “Deconstructing Language” workshop here.