By Edward Henderson
San Diego native and performance artist Keomi Tarver, 29, believes a special movement is happening in the hearts and minds of women of color. This evolution is in response to the social climate, daily struggles, triumphs, spiritual growth and leadership women are being called to answer.
Tonight at 7:30 in The White Box Theater in collaboration with She is Soul, Tarver will illustrate her journey towards self-discovery and the implementation of the knowledge gained from it in a powerful performance of dance, poetry and storytelling entitled Love & War.
“People can definitely expect vulnerability and connection,” said Tarver. “There are a lot of places I allow myself to go emotionally so other people can go there as well. I go all the way from my relationships with men, to my friendships with women, the relationship my father to the abortion that I had. I allow me and my dancers to go everywhere we need to because I’m clear that if we cheat ourselves, we cheat the people around us.”
Vulnerability is a key ingredient to Tarver’s performances. Tonight promises to be an extension of that theme in order for the audience to recognize a piece of themselves on stage that they may keep locked up deep inside.
“It allows ourselves to be exposed so we can allow ourselves to be free. It takes the taboo out of calling ourselves out, being wrong or being messed up. You’re still worthy, you’re still whole, it doesn’t make you any less of anything because we’ve been broken.”
Tarver, a graduate of San Diego State University, began her journey in the arts by taking a leap of faith to the east coast.
“I knew I wasn’t going to reach my full potential staying comfortable in San Diego. I picked up and left to move to Brooklyn. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and the most beneficial. I learned a lot about myself and what’s passible. There’s really not much I can’t do, but I don’t think I would have known that unless I put myself in the situation where I needed to believe in myself.”
Today, Tarver teaches dance at high schools, the YMCA and other studios in Brooklyn. Her teachings focus on creating the space for people to have more access to themselves and their bodies through movement, twerking, activating different parts of the mind and self-awareness.
She is Soul, a San Diego based non-profit focused on women’s empowerment, discovered Tarver’s show when a founding member of the group, Geminelle Rollins, attended a performance in Brooklyn. She was so moved and inspired by the content, they scheduled tonight’s performance to bring the dynamic artist back to her San Diego roots.
“A woman from Southeast is a particular kind of woman. There are so many things that we experience and so many complexities. It’s dope to know that there is this awareness and consciousness in this movement that happening out here and women are in the forefront of it.”
I had the opportunity to preview Tarver’s performance at Lyrical Exchange open mic this past Tuesday night. After experiencing the energy and powerful connection she makes with the audience through her story and movement, tonight’s show is something you don’t want to miss.
Tickets for Love & War can be purchased online here, or at the door for $20.
