Amara Tabor-Smith facts for kids

Amara Tabor-Smith, born in 1965, is a talented artist from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is known as a choreographer, someone who creates dance routines. She is also a performer, meaning she dances herself. Amara is celebrated for her dance works that explore and honor African-American and women's history.

Amara Tabor-Smith's Career in Dance

Amara Tabor-Smith spent ten years as a dancer. She also became an Associate Artistic Director. This was with the famous Urban Bush Women dance company in New York City. She helped the company connect with communities.

Deep Waters Dance Theater

Amara started her own group called Deep Waters Dance Theater. Here, she creates dances that are like rituals. Her work often looks at important topics. These include challenges faced by people of color and environmental issues.

Notable Dance Works

In 2011, Amara created a piece called Our Daily Bread. This dance explored what and how we eat. It even included live cooking and eating during the show! People said it was a powerful and funny dance.

In 2013, Amara won a "Best of the Bay" award. This was for her work called He Moved Swiftly But Gently Down the Not Too Crowded Street. This project had 11 special performances. They took place in different locations around the city. Each performance told a part of the life story of Ed Mock. He was an important dance pioneer in the Bay Area. People felt that Amara's work brought back the spirit of San Francisco.

Working with Other Artists

Amara Tabor-Smith has danced for many famous choreographers. Their work has helped inspire her own creations. Some of these artists include Ed Mock, Joanna Haigood, Pearl Ubungen, Ronald K. Brown, Liz Lerman, and Faustin Linyekula.

She has also performed with theater artists. These include Anna Deavere Smith and Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Amara also choreographed and danced in a documentary film. It was called Making Whiteness Visible.

Her dance company, DWDT, has performed in many places. They have shown their work in Brazil and Congo. They have also performed in New York City and across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Awards and Recognition

Amara Tabor-Smith has received many awards and special opportunities. These include grants, which are like special funding for artists. She has also had residencies. This means she gets a place to work and create.

• She received a Creative Work Fund's Performing Arts Grant.
• She was an artist in residence at The Headlands Center for the Arts.
• She got a CHIME Mentorship Exchange grant.
• She also received the Green Choreographers Residency.

Currently, she is an Artist in Residence at ODC/Dance in San Francisco. In 2016, she received a Creative Capital award. She shared this award with artist Ellen Sebastian Chang. In 2021, Amara Tabor-Smith was awarded the Rainin Arts Fellowship.