Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Taja Will Season 3 Episode 33

Taja Will (pronouns Taja/they) is a queer, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee, performer, choreographer, somatic therapist and Healing Justice practitioner based in the Twin Cities (MN), on the stolen and  occupied Dakota lands of Wahpekute and Anishinabewaki. Taja’s approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text and vocals in contemporary performance. Their aesthetic is one of spontaneity, bold choice making, sonic and kinetic partnership and the ability to move in relationship to risk and intimacy. Will’s work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through ritual, archetypes and everyday magic.Will’s work has been presented throughout the Twin Cities and across the United States. Including local performances at the Walker Art Center Choreographer’s Evening, the Red Eye Theater’s New Works 4 Weeks, the Radical Recess series, Right Here Showcase and the Candy Box Dance Festival. Will is the recipient of a 2018 McKnight Choreography Fellowship, administered by the Cowles Center and funded by The McKnight Foundation. Will has recently received support from the National Association of Latinx Arts & Culture, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and was a finalist for Queer Art’s(NYC) Eva Yaa Grant for Queer Women(+) Dance Artists. As a performer Will has collaborated with Sara Shelton Mann, Rosy Simas Danse, Keith Hennessy, Aniccha Arts (Pramila Vasudevan), Deborah Jinza Thayer, Blake Nellis, Timmy Rehborg, Off Leash Area, Vanessa Voskuil, Body Cartography Project and Miguel Gutierrez among others. As an educator Will has been a guest teacher and adjunct faculty at several institutions across the United States, including University of Minnesota, Knox College, Hamline University, Zenon Dance School, Earthdance Creative Living, wcciJam, and the Lion’s Jaw Festival. Taja maintains a dynamic Healing Justice practice that includes consulting with individuals, organizations, and communities in the context of workshops, conflict mediation, one-on-one somatic healing sessions, nervous system triage, board development and organizational cultural competency, and individual coaching on unwinding from white body supremacy culture. They ground their work in indigenous solidarity and decolonization as a means to undo white body supremacy and it’s pervasive relationship to capitalism, Taja is committed to working for healing and liberation of Black, Indigenous and people of color. They have recently accepted the position of Equity & Justice Coordinator at Earthdance Creative Living, an artist retreat center in Western Massachusetts, on the ancestral lands of the Agawams, Pocumtuc, Nipmuck and Wabanaki Confederacy.Taja Will goes by "Taja/they" pronouns. In our interview, you may note the error by host Mathew in referring to Taja as "she" during the middle of the interview. Mathew acknowledges and is sorry for this error. Upon conversation and reflection, Mathew and ARENA DANCES have taken this opportunity to learn more about supporting non-binary folks.