#GDLifeinLockdown
Life in Lockdown is a blog series initiated by Greenwich Dance which features community and professional arists close to the organisation sharing how they are staying creative during these isolating times.
The artists have been asked to log their day-to-day activity during lockdown. Heres a look at artist Ama Rouge’s week!
Ama’s work centers around heritage, identity and femxles – explored as separate themes or in combination. Her work seeks to empower, educate, provoke, and dismantle harmful narratives.
She chooses to express and create using Contemporary, Samba, Afro Brasilian and House dance genres. She is currently exploring and developing a Somatic movement practise. Alongside training in the UK, she has travelled to Brasil to enrich her knowledge of Afro-Brasilian styles and Contemporary (Silvestre Technique). She has also travelled to Cuba to further develop her movement vocabulary. She’s worked as a Creative Educator for many years, joining forces with Greenwich Dance in Spring last year to deliver a family workshop at their Urban Village Fete.
Her career highlights so far include: choreographing for the formal opening of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, main feature in Selfridges EveryBODY campaign in-store, print and online, led by Wayne McGregor and captured by Norbert Schoerner, performing for the Qatari Royal Family, parading in 2008 Rio Carnaval and performing in the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony.
MONDAY
Dancing at Dusk: There’s something so magnetic about dusk. Full of wonder and brimming with a quiet confident beauty. It fills me, reminds me I’m alive and makes me want to move. Song: Flowers by @sampa_the_great
TUESDAY
Sunrise: I’ve always loved to write. I started writing poetry in my late teens and it’s an expression I continue to find so much value and release in. Ironically many of us are still as busy or more busy than before lockdown. Beautifully, during this time (more than usual) I find myself inhabiting my many language forms – writing, dancing, cooking, creating visual art, art directing, using the power of my voice to connect with myself and friends around the world. This is a time that continues to reveal us to ourselves. May we see ourselves fully. May we continually move closer to our best selves.
WEDNESDAY
My heritage, identity and culture swirl in rotations around me. Ask me who I am, I will show you. Quietly. Loudly. Softly. Boldly. I had planned to shoot this portrait series with my good friend and collaborator @mvtildv, but the pandemic has resulted in me flexing my creative muscles with a home photoshoot instead. My work centres around heritage, identity and femxles – explored as separate themes or in combination. My work seeks to empower, educate, provoke, and dismantle harmful narratives. In Ghana the way in which a person chooses to adorn their body communicates certain things about them; ethnic identity, social status, ancestry and wealth are some of the things that are expressed through body adornment. Here I choose to adorn myself with gold hair clips, earth toned light reflecting make up, bold earrings, a specific selection of books and black mesh fabric.
Art Direction, Styling, MUA: me Photographer: mama bear
THURSDAY
Like many, a lot of my life is currently carried out over Zoom, WhatsApp, House Party etc. Here’s one of many meetings with the awesome Ella Mesma where we’re fleshing out content for our podcast, which is focused on empowering and dismantling, and launches this year.
FRIDAY
Today I’ve been choreographing for my one off Samba x Destiny’s Child online class. Here’s a lil snippet. Prior to this I was in a Zoom rehearsal for @elementsartsco live performance that’s taking place this Saturday 4.30pm via livestream as part of @wandsworthartsfringe. Love how we creatives are still making things happen as much as possible. Power to us. Song: Lose My Breath by @destinyschild
