We recently connected with Enya-Kalia Jordan and have shared our conversation below.

Enya-Kalia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Currently, I am working on my dissertation entitled “Ebonic Bodies in Motion: Discerning the Metaphysical Emergence of African American Vernacular Embodiment.” The works centers Black women in Brooklyn, their knowledge systems, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) across disciplines. My work highlights untold movement narratives of the Black ‘hood girls’ in the margins. These are the Black women I grew up around, who I didn’t see represented in Western research paradigms, qualitative inquiry, or prestigious institutions. In my research, I purposefully reclaim ‘ghetto’ or ‘hood’ terms like ebonics, critically understanding these terms emerged from cultural innovation in the face of systemic oppression. This is the most meaningful project I worked on because it is a culmination of my life experience and academic research to date. It is also an evolution of my MFA thesis, Pissed: an Ode to the Black Woman Warrior, and the healing journey I have undergone since creating this deeply personal work. Ebonic Bodies celebrates the Black woman’s body who dares to exist and call themselves beautiful despite the remnants of colonialism.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I want people to know that I cultivate dance spaces for a living and make folks feel seen. My true passion is choreography. It’s hard to squeeze to a lifetime of creative energy into a few sentences so here are my 2023 highlights: I am a choreographer, researcher, scholar, and teaching artist from Brooklyn, New York. I received a BA in Arts & Letters Dance from Buffalo State University and an MFA from Temple University in choreography and performance. Currently, I am completing my dissertation at Texas Woman’s University. I am the proud founder and artistic director of Enya Kalia Creations (EKC), a movement-based artistic collective established in 2016. EKC brings “flava” to conceptual art by creating and performing untold movement narratives of emerging revolutionaries through dance arts. Working in African Diasporic movement forms, the company reimagines what it means to be unapologetically Black, a woman, and free. EKC is in the midst of an arts & social justice residency with the CUNY Dance Initiative, partnered with Brooklyn College School of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts and BAX: Brooklyn Arts Exchange from 2023-2025. I also co-direct Bashi Arts and am working to open a professional state-of-the-art dance center in South Brooklyn with diability and dance scholar Rachel Repinz. Thus, Bashi Arts is home to two transdisciplinary performance companies, RACHEL:dancers (R:d) & Enya Kalia Creations (EKC).

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I am unlearning urgency. I am taking time to be more present. I have had an amazing year as an artist but, I don’t feel like I have always had the opportunity to enjoy it. I am always worried about the next grant application or opportunity. I am being more intentional with my time and finally having the privilege to say “no”. As a black woman and creative, I am learning that rest is radical and an act of resistance.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I am very proud of my work to build Bashi Arts. This collaborative project centers on three goals: providing a platform for emerging artists, creating pre-professional opportunities for NYC students, and serving as an incubator for experimental Contemporary movement artists. Bashi Arts is named after my father, the late Nygiar Bashi Jordan, the “chief” of his Brooklyn tribe. The original forerunner, or “Bashi,” like many talented kids from Brooklyn, didn’t have access to the resources to produce, curate, or present their work. However, he still found the tenacity to create and give back to his community. Thus, this project aims to showcase the work of powerful young voices in the field of dance. Bashi Arts have led several research projects centered on creating access for young artists, serves as an incubator, and provides performance opportunities. Centering AAVE and antiracism in our curriculum, creating an archive, as well as providing quality dance education in communities like Coney Island, (where I grew up) is racial justice. It’s not about outreach, but empowering all that South Brooklyn has to offer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.enyakaliacreations.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enyakaliacreations/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enyakaliacreations/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/enya-kaliajordan
• Other: https://www.bax.org/cdi-residency/ https://30under30.temple.edu/2023-award-recipients/artistic-visionary-enya-kalia-jordan

Image Credits
Brian Mengini (rose petal image) Nir Arieli (3 at BAX)