Black History Month: (Self-) Vations

In celebration of Black History Month and within the framework of our performance series Cognitive Cultures several Berlin based artists from multiple backgrounds come together to form The Blackism Collective. Blackism is the most succinct term which we employ to describe our mission to promote the autonomy of Blackness, in all its diversity and nuance through performance art and multimedia. Self-Vation speaks to the individual dancer’s and collective dancers expression of varying emotional worlds. In doing so the viewer is obliged to behold experiences of Blackness that are unique, complex and moving. Navigating through various African disaporic channels, using dance, theatre, poetry, music and video, Blackism aims to decolonize and center our entireties. The collective was founded by performers, Nasheeka Nedsreal and Adrian Blount in 2017. 

JUMOKE ADEYANJU is a freestyle dancer, major in Hip Hop and House. She started off with Krumping at age 14 then Breakdance and was active with her crew Deetroit Rockstarz in the underground dance battle scene (fka Lizzy Dee) for many years. She is now experimenting with different types of movements, emerging them into what has shaped her all these years. Jumoke is also a curator, moderator, and polylingual poet. She writes in English, German, Kiswahili and Yorùbá.

ADRIAN BLOUNT is from San Diego, CA. She has a BA in Dramatic arts from San Francisco State University and has performed in regional theatres across the USA, with a touring theatre troupe, and Brown University programs: Center for Slavery and Justice, Brown/ Trinity, and Trinity Repertory theatre. Adrian has taught anti-racist and collective healing
workshops with the f_antifa Kongress, Ballhaus Nanynstrasse, co-founded the Blackism Collective and the No Tek No collective.

MAIYASHA CADE is a Hip Hop dancer originally from Boston, MA. Although hip hop dance is her main style, she has roots in Ballet. At the age of 8, she attended The Boston Ballet School for Performing Arts for several years, on a full scholarship, and landed roles in their productions of A Mid-Summers Nights Dream and The Nutcracker. While in Boston, she was a dancer for the NBA Boston Celtics for several years and coached their kids dance team She was also a member of the hip hop dance company Phunk Phenomenon. After moving to NYC she signed with BLOC agency and performed commercially for NIKE, New Balance, MTV, LG Electronics, and others. Working with teens, through dance, is Maiysha's ultimate love. In the past, she has worked with different youth organizations such as The Possibility Project and SOCAPA and has taught in many schools throughout New York.

NASHEEKA NEDSREAL is a performer from Louisiana, working across movement, theatre and music. In recent years, her work explores identity, female and African diasporic narratives, intimacy, ritual and improvisation. In 2014, Nasheeka founded Soul Sisters Berlin, a collective dedicated to connecting Black women throughout Germany and Europe. The collective performed their first original piece entitled, ”Mirror Mirror”, which she co-directed. Nedsreal also works as a fashion model, stylist, actress and childhood educator; teaching English, Dance and Theatre, in schools throughout Germany. In 2016, she began teaching dance class for women of color under the title Black and Brown Bodies in Motion. In 2017, she joined Berlin-based dance company, Grupo Oito and made her premiere in the performance, ”Unrestricted Contact”.

THOMIAS RADIN alias THOMYYAS is a young painter and dancer (freestyle hip hop, house dance, experimental) born in 1993 in Guadeloupe. Through his painting, the artist nourishes his reflection on the relationships between painting, music and dance; his passions since childhood. He then tries to highlight the links between the disciplines that constitute this trinity. Beyond a narrative that portrays supernatural beings and collective fantasies, his painting then refers to the genesis of a human society and its relationship to the divine.