BY TOBE MELORA CORREAL
JUNE 2013... I want to do “A House Full of Black Women!” —Amara Tabor-Smith T hese were the words that came fall- ing out of Amara’s mouth, sweet and easy, like fat golden corn falls ripe and juicy off a late-summer cobb. It was mere hours after the soul-stirring finish of Amara’s 2013 presentation of He Moved Swift- ly ’s “Room Full of Black Men” and I was still speechless with awe at the majesty that had taken place there. We were two sister-friends of 40+ years having some kitchen table-talk and debriefing the show. A house full of Black women??? I didn’t know what that was; nei- ther did Amara. But what our heads didn’t know our bodies could feel: a She-presence that came into the room, something thick and round, wide-bellied and dark. Not the so-called inferior-dark of white supremacy, nor the despised-feminine dark of patriarchy. This dark was a radiant-dark Mother Force, primordial and rich in beauty and mystery. Amara’s words had called open a portal and this spirit, House/Full of BlackWomen, was now with us at the table. With chills running up my spine I looked at her. “Yaaasss Amara, oh my god, YES.” She looked back at me with sharp eyes, her lips in pursed determination, and nodded her head three times, resolutely.
Sebastian Chang. Together they gathered a cir- cle of Black women who began showing up in places you would not expect to see them, doing things you would not expect to be done; shak- ing aloose preconceived notions about what constitutes art, audience, theater and perfor- mance, making a place in the streets of Oak- land for this new/not-new 1 thing Amara had named Conjure Art. At that time—in addition to the chal- lenges of a chronic health condition and the heart-wrenching death of my mother a few years before—I was dealing with an extended crisis around housing and resources and so was usually too unwell to show up in person for the various House/Full “epi- sodes” that were taking place around town. Instead, I mostly learned about you through
girlfriend chats with Amara and photo- graphs. Then one day Amara said to me, “we’re gonna do a 24-hour song circle for Black women.”Which sounded so glorious it made my eyeballs pop with excitement, until she finished her sentence with, “and I would like you to lead the opening prayer.” All I could say, with tears in my eyes was, “I can’t. I know you love me but I am not worthy of the job.” I can’t … because I spend my days feeling empty and lost, chok- ing on despair. I can’t … because I am worn all the way down from the struggle of just barely making it. I can’t … because I don’t have anything of value to say to anyone right now, let alone a whole ass song circle full of Black women, who deserve the very best and should have an opening prayer
Dear Beloved House/Full, Mother of Black Woman Medicine Who Restores and Transforms…
At first I watched from the sidelines, quietly stalking you while Amara joined forces with her long-time collaborator, the formidable Ellen
FALL 2020 in dance 13
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n amp l i f y u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n a p l i f y
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