And I Begin: 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 new morning begins 

A new taste creeps up the back of my throat forcing swallows

A bead of new sweat sways down my spine 

A rumble shakes new sounds from my belly

New bullshit permeates the matter 

Tomorrow ain’t no more, and neither is today 

So I begin 

One foot then two 

Two foots then one…heel pressed 

New feeling 

One finger rotates wrapping air 

Then three 

Three, three…three more times now 

Finish 

No pause 

Grab air with throat 

Wait for it…begin again 

Head back, eyes wide as arms unfolding off back

Knees bend 

New press, press the floor away 

Press the dead awake 

Auntie, get out that ground child 

Put on and STAGE for me 

Mount spirits and get down for me 

Get labor through me 

Permit me to show them generations of who we be

Hold me still and hold me shaky 

My hips have been through more than this 

So they dip under my weight to hold this girl on surrendered feet

Finish 

The volume of my breath ascends 

Presses hard against my ears 

Skin wet, eyes wet, dry tongue

The first tear plummets pooling memories across the floor

My work left behind, still rattling my joints 

So full is the residue 

Finish…again 

This time I’m not done 

Still more, more give, more say… 

I have only just begun

[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.