Embraced Body

How We Move will shift the timeline of the Cohort Two program, with the in-person residency now scheduled for Summer 2027. The adjustment reflects our commitment to disability culture, access, and care in response to evolving health, caregiving needs, and family loss within the team.





[Image Description: White text on dark purple background that reads “TIMELINE UPDATE. The 2026 How We Move in-person residency now scheduled for Summer 2027”. Centered is black text on a white background that reads “HOW WE MOVE, An Intensive for Disabled Dancers”. There is the How We Move logo, a red ‘W’ hugging a dark purple 'M'.]

Meet Taja!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Red background with dark purple ribbon in center-right. Headshot of Taja Will,a non-binary femme with cinnamon toned skin gazes up into the camera with a soft presence. Their long hair is bunned on the top of their head and they have dark brown bangs streaked with silver. They have adorned themself with gold nose piercings and statement earring that reach from their ears down past their shoulders, their skin is artfully tattooed and they are wearing a white silver tanktop delightfully contrasting deep red lipstick. Photo Credit: Isabel Fajardo. With a smaller pic of them in the lower right corner, a bright yellow chair sits saturated in beams of bright light, light layered in through a window in distinct diagonal panels. Taja balances upside down on the ground next to the chair, they are on their back with a slight spiral in their legs which float up the wall as they reach an arm out, their balance almost seems like an illusion. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “TAJA WILL (they/them)”. Photo Credit: Zoe Prinds-Flash, courtesy of Tence Magazine.

Slide 2: Taja Will (they/them) is a non-binary, chronically ill, q***r, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee. They are a performer, choreographer, somatic therapist, consultant and Healing Justice practitioner based in Mni Sota Makoce, on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. 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 artistic work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through a blend of ritual, dense multi-layered worldbuilding and everyday magic.

Slide 3: Taja initiates solo projects and teaching ventures and is a recent recipient of the 2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and 2018-19 McKnight Choreography Fellowship. Their work has been presented throughout the Twin Cities and across the United States. They have led the Taja Will Ensemble for 10 years and is currently working on a new ensemble performance ERODE, to premiere in 2027 at the Red Eye Theater. In addition to dance Taja is a Healing Justice practitioner, consultant, coach, educator and ritualist. They center Disability Justice, nervous system awareness, embodiment and relationship-building in all they do.]

Meet foster!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Dark purple background with red ribbon in center-right. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “foster weems (she/they)”. foster, a fat lightskinned black person, sits in the foreground under a red-orange light. they are sitting sideways in a leather chair and their arm is draped over the chair back causing their right hand to rest in front of them at chest height; a bunny tattoo is visible on their right wrist. they are wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up in an exacted cuffed. the shirt reads "protect black trans children" in white lettering that is stretching and beginning to peel in places. the shirt is cropped, revealing their tattooed belly rolls. their round face dons a light mustache, a double chin with a patchy light beard, clear cat eye framed glasses and a hoop in their right nostril. their turquoise locks drape over their right shoulder. they also have bangs cut above their temple. in the background of the photo, the leaves of a snake plant are visible, but blurry and through the window, bare trees, an evergreen and snow (on the ground) are visible. Smaller pic of foster, a fat lightskinned black person in the foreground. Their arms are crossed in an “x” in cover their chest and most of their face. There is a tattoo on her outer forearm that reads “paint it black. call it god.” in courier font. Her right eye and some of her locs are visible from behind her hands. They stand before a background of a white wall with neatly-arranged paintings of non-descript figures in pastels.

Slide 2: foster JANAE weems (she/they) is a fat black q***r and trans interdependent-disciplinary artist and educator whose life and work takes cues from the black baptist church, black q***r kink community and an ever-expanding adoration of witnessing the capacious and audacious embodiments of the black imagination. foster is a dancer of the black improvisational dance tradition, a painter, composer/arranger and photographer who works to create care-driven spaces for ushering fat black q***r and trans folks into play, experimentation, unbridled being and, ultimately, a deepened intimacy with- and trust of themselves, their desires and creative visions.

Slide 3: foster is a 2025 NC Dance Festival Artist-in-Residence and 2026 Raleigh Arts Performance Fellow, a 2024 Grounded Possibilities Fellow and 2024 BLK Transcendence SEEDS Writing Fellow. They are the facilitator of Black Intimacy Practice (a body-centered space for fat black q***r and trans artists, healers and dancers) and the founder/co-steward of Play Church (a co-op by and for black q***r and trans artists, organizers and healers.]

Meet DJ!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Red background with dark purple ribbon in center-right. Headshot of DJ Robinson with a smaller image of him in the lower right corner. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “DJ ROBINSON (he/him)”. The large image is a headshot of DJ, a smiling man facing slightly toward the camera against a soft, neutral beige background. He is wearing a bright red knit sweater with a ribbed texture. His hair is closely cropped, and he has a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. His expression is warm and confident, with a broad smile showing his teeth. One of his eyes appears clear while the other appears cloudy, suggesting visual impairment. The lighting is soft and even, highlighting his facial features and creating a polished, approachable portrait. The overall tone of the image is friendly, professional, and welcoming. In the small image, two dancers move dynamically in a bright indoor performance space. In the foreground, DJ is in a silver vest and dark pants extending both arms outward with intensity, torso pitched forward. Behind them, another dancer in a full silver outfit mirrors the energy with a sweeping arm and lowered stance, suggesting synchronized contemporary movement. Photo Credit: Ethan Candelario and Ghost Crab Production.

Slide 2: Davian DJ Robinson (he/him) is a passionate and boundary-breaking visually impaired dancer, choreographer, and performer. Drawing from his lived experience and athletic movement style, he creates choreography that is both physically powerful and emotionally resonant. His work blends dynamic storytelling with raw embodiment, inviting audiences into a world where rhythm, resilience, and adaptability redefine how we move and connect. Through both performance and education, Davian challenges conventions and opens new possibilities for inclusive expression in the arts.]

Meet Uhuru!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Dark purple background with red ribbon in center-right. Headshot of Uhuru Moor with a smaller image of him in the lower right corner. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST” and below reads “UHURU MOOR (he/him)”. For both pics, Uhuru is standing in a blue-lit room with a black mesh sleeve top on, his chest out, leather pants and a corset. With his arm crutches moving, he has thick locs in his hair with silver wrap on them, and sunglasses.

Slide 2: Black text on yellow background with purple border reads "The Uhuruverse is THE FREE UNIVERSE, an alternate spacetime/reality in which the universe (everything; the totality: space, time, matter and energy) is FREE/experiences freedom. As Uhuru means freedom in Swahili and "universe" comes from the Latin word universus, which is a mixture of the words versus (turned) and uni (one). Combined they form universus, which literally means “turned into one.”

The Uhuruverse is a PROTEST ARTIST who uses multiple mediums and performance styles to speak against oppression and demand and encourage liberation. As a musician, The Uhuruverse can be best described as experimental. Best known as the electric guitarist for the band F**k U Pay Us (a four piece Black tgnc, q***r, femme punk band demanding land reparations for the African Holocaust and free self defense training for tgnc & femmes),The Uhuruvese also raps and is infamous for live/improv performance.

Slide 3: The Uhuruverse performs drag and invokes interactive art and improv. In 2016 they directed the psychedelic film noir, “FIGHT IN HEELS,” a collaboration with the artist collective (founded by The Uhuruverse in 2014) and directed a follow up in 2018 titled “Channeling Calafia.” They’ve released two albums, “The Brightest Oddest Strangest Star U Ever Did Saw Up Close and Afar From Planet Earth to Mars and Beyond” and “Who Killed Kenisha?!” The Uhuruverse did their first immersive installation titled “Nightmare on Easy Street” in Folkestone, England critiquing the classism of fascism. In 2020, The Uhuruverse established The Deeepspacecraft (a Black disabled tgnc owned and operated sanctuary space) in New Orleans which has housed over 35 Black trans folks in need and/or for creative purposes".]

Meet Miwa!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Red background with a dark purple ribbon in center right. Headshot of Miwa Nagura McCormick with a smaller image of her on the lower right. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, text below reads “MIWA NAGURA MCCORMICK (she/her)”. In the large pic Miwa, an Asian woman with dark brown hair, is standing outside, near trees, wearing a light green, patterned shirt. In the smaller pic,three dancers lined up from the front to the back. The first dancer is on the floor, the 2nd on the chair, and Miwa is standing. She extends her left arm and leans back, and the dancer on the chair supports her weight while leaning back.

2: Miwa Nagura McCormick (she/her) hails from Japan, where she got her dance bug while training in synchronized swimming as a child. She then started taking jazz dance classes and founded a jazz dance club in college. At UC Berkeley, where she studied molecular biology as an exchange student, she encountered modern dance through its dance department, founded by former Graham dancers David and Marnie Wood, and took daily dance classes there. Subsequently, she moved to NYC in 1991 to immerse herself in dance. The teachers who shaped her dance technique include David Storey, Lynn Simonson, Laurie DeVito, Diane McCarthy, and Tee Ross. She is also certified to teach the Simonson Technique. She performed in dances choreographed by David Storey, Donna Thomas, and Lisa Cluth, among others.

Slide 3: Professionally, she has over 30 years of experience producing and directing TV programs and has featured many choreographers, dance companies, and performances in the TV series of the Japanese public broadcasting network. Since her diagnosis of neurodegenerative movement disorder in 2019, she shifted her focus to produce stories about disability advocacy and inclusion. Her documentary about Ava Xiao-Lin Rigelhaupt, Broadway’s first Autistic Creative Consultant in the musical “How to Dance in Ohio,” won the 2024 Telly Silver Award in the DEI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category. Miwa has a BA in Biology from International Christian University and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. She is thrilled to participate in the How We Move program after 23 years of hiatus from performing.]

Meet Ariana!







[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Dark purple background with a red ribbon in center right. Headshot of Ariana Martinez with a smaller pic of them in the lower right corner. White text at the top of the image reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”. Text below reads “ARIANA MARTINEZ they/them”. Ariana, a Puerto Rican, nonbinary person with light skin and short, dark brown hair looks calmly into the camera. Ariana wears a black t-shirt and round eyeglasses with lenses tinted a soft, pale violet. Ariana rests their head on their arms while sunlit brick walls and greenery extend behind them. The smaller pic is a still image from Ariana’s performance, Inland Sea. Ariana is dressed in a relaxed, white linen button down shirt and black leggings. Their feet are bare. Ariana is splayed out across their sculptural installation, which resembles a shoreline meeting a body of water. A projected video of water's surface emanates from the ceiling, bouncing off a reflective quilt-like sculpture on the floor. Ariana's hands scan the surface as if treading water.

Slide 2: Yellow background with dark purple border and black text that reads “Ariana Martinez (they/them) is a q***r, nonbinary artist of Puerto Rican descent working across sculpture, installation, and time-based media. Ariana’s geographic lineage spans the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern United States with present, familial homes in Lajas, Puerto Rico and Bronx, New York. Ariana uses their practice to understand how processes of spatial navigation and sensory perception are altered by displacement, debility, and ecological change. As a disabled artist living with neurological and autoimmune illnesses, Ariana works to challenge notions of distanced self-sufficiency and instead make space for a diversity of embodied and relationships to movement, land, and place. Ariana holds an M.F.A from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, a B.F.A in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University.

Slide 3: Yellow background with dark purple border and black text that reads “They are the Art Director and among the Founding Editorial Board Members of Sound Fields, a publication about audio documentary, in theory and in practice. Ariana’s work has appeared at the Open City Documentary Festival (UK), the Barbican Cultural Center (UK), the Third Coast International Audio Festival (USA), LUCIA Festival (Italy), and the Hearsay Audio Arts Festival (Ireland). In 2018 they received the inaugural Signal to Noise Award from Union Docs and Gilded Audio, and has since been an artist in residence at The Steel Yard (RI); Arts, Letters, & Numbers (NY), The Ragdale Foundation (IL), The James Castle House (ID), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME) and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.]

We're super excited to announce the 2026 How We Move Artists!
Congratulations!








[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Lavender background with six circular headshots of cohort II How We Move artists. At the top, black text reads “MEET THE 2026 HOW WE MOVE ARTISTS.” Below is the How We Move logo, a dark purple ‘M’ hugging a red ‘W.’ The circular headshots, from left to right, top to bottom: Ariana Martinez (they/them), Miwa Nagura McCormick (she/her), Uhuru Moor (he/him), DJ Robinson (he/him), foster weems (she/they), Taja Will (they/them).

Slide 2: Dark purple background with a red ribbon in center right. Headshot of Ariana Martinez with a smaller pic of them in the lower right corner. White text at the top of the image reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”. Text below reads “ARIANA MARTINEZ they/them”. Ariana, a Puerto Rican, nonbinary person with light skin and short, dark brown hair looks calmly into the camera. Ariana wears a black t-shirt and round eyeglasses with lenses tinted a soft, pale violet. Ariana rests their head on their arms while sunlit brick walls and greenery extend behind them. The smaller pic is a still image from Ariana’s performance, Inland Sea. Ariana is dressed in a relaxed, white linen button down shirt and black leggings. Their feet are bare. Ariana is splayed out across their sculptural installation, which resembles a shoreline meeting a body of water. A projected video of water's surface emanates from the ceiling, bouncing off a reflective quilt-like sculpture on the floor. Ariana's hands scan the surface as if treading water.

Slide 3: Red background with a dark purple ribbon in center right. Headshot of Miwa Nagura McCormick with a smaller image of her on the lower right. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, text below reads “MIWA NAGURA MCCORMICK (she/her)”. In the large pic Miwa, an Asian woman with dark brown hair, is standing outside, near trees, wearing a light green, patterned shirt. In the smaller pic,three dancers lined up from the front to the back. The first dancer is on the floor, the 2nd on the chair, and Miwa is standing. She extends her left arm and leans back, and the dancer on the chair supports her weight while leaning back.

Slide 4: Dark purple background with red ribbon in center-right. Headshot of Uhuru Moor with a smaller image of him in the lower right corner. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST” and below reads “UHURU MOOR (he/him)”. For both pics, Uhuru is standing in a blue-lit room with a black mesh sleeve top on, his chest out, leather pants and a corset. With his arm crutches moving, he has thick locs in his hair with silver wrap on them, and sunglasses.

Slide 5: Red background with dark purple ribbon in center-right. Headshot of DJ Robinson with a smaller image of him in the lower right corner. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “DJ ROBINSON (he/him)”. The large image is a headshot of DJ, a smiling man facing slightly toward the camera against a soft, neutral beige background. He is wearing a bright red knit sweater with a ribbed texture. His hair is closely cropped, and he has a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. His expression is warm and confident, with a broad smile showing his teeth. One of his eyes appears clear while the other appears cloudy, suggesting visual impairment. The lighting is soft and even, highlighting his facial features and creating a polished, approachable portrait. The overall tone of the image is friendly, professional, and welcoming. In the small image, two dancers move dynamically in a bright indoor performance space. In the foreground, DJ is in a silver vest and dark pants extending both arms outward with intensity, torso pitched forward. Behind them, another dancer in a full silver outfit mirrors the energy with a sweeping arm and lowered stance, suggesting synchronized contemporary movement. Photo Credit: Ethan Candelario and Ghost Crab Production.

Slide 6: Dark purple background with red ribbon in center-right. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “foster weems (she/they)”. foster, a fat lightskinned black person, sits in the foreground under a red-orange light. they are sitting sideways in a leather chair and their arm is draped over the chair back causing their right hand to rest in front of them at chest height; a bunny tattoo is visible on their right wrist. they are wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up in an exacted cuffed. the shirt reads "protect black trans children" in white lettering that is stretching and beginning to peel in places. the shirt is cropped, revealing their tattooed belly rolls. their round face dons a light mustache, a double chin with a patchy light beard, clear cat eye framed glasses and a hoop in their right nostril. their turquoise locks drape over their right shoulder. they also have bangs cut above their temple. in the background of the photo, the leaves of a snake plant are visible, but blurry and through the window, bare trees, an evergreen and snow (on the ground) are visible. Smaller pic of foster, a fat lightskinned black person in the foreground. Their arms are crossed in an “x” in cover their chest and most of their face. There is a tattoo on her outer forearm that reads “paint it black. call it god.” in courier font. Her right eye and some of her locs are visible from behind her hands. They stand before a background of a white wall with neatly-arranged paintings of non-descript figures in pastels.

Slide 7: Red background with dark purple ribbon in center-right. Headshot of Taja Will,a non-binary femme with cinnamon toned skin gazes up into the camera with a soft presence. Their long hair is bunned on the top of their head and they have dark brown bangs streaked with silver. They have adorned themself with gold nose piercings and statement earring that reach from their ears down past their shoulders, their skin is artfully tattooed and they are wearing a white silver tanktop delightfully contrasting deep red lipstick. Photo Credit: Isabel Fajardo. With a smaller pic of them in the lower right corner, a bright yellow chair sits saturated in beams of bright light, light layered in through a window in distinct diagonal panels. Taja balances upside down on the ground next to the chair, they are on their back with a slight spiral in their legs which float up the wall as they reach an arm out, their balance almost seems like an illusion. White text above reads “HOW WE MOVE ARTIST”, and below reads “TAJA WILL (they/them)”. Photo Credit: Zoe Prinds-Flash, courtesy of Tence Magazine.]

Next week we will announce the six artists for the second round of How We Move. We can't wait to share this amazing cohort with you all!

Stay tuned to learn more about each artist.





[Image Description: White text on dark purple background that reads “STAY TUNED. Selected artists will be announced next week!”. Below is black text on a white background that reads “How We Move, An Intensive for Disabled Dancers”. Beside that is the How We Move logo which is a dark purple ‘M’ hugging a red ‘W’]

Access work is an act of radical imagination—envisioning futures not yet written and creating pathways through care, creativity, and collective commitment to one another’s access.

This amazing article was written by editorial board, writer and editor, Rachel DeForrest Repinz of thINKing DANCE! Rachel was able to witness us live, so the article really reflects an insider's perspective.

Check out the article in our bio or here: https://www.rfr.bz/f0c9cfc





[Image Descriptions:
Slide 1: Black text on a white background with orange borders. An image of several masked (n95), disabled How We Move dancers practicing choreography. Teal text over the image reads “thINKingDANCE”. Black text below the image reads “Photo: Whitney Browne”. Red text below the image reads “REVIEWS”. Black text below that reads “When Something Does Not Exist, We Must Create It. July 9, 2025. Rachel DeForrest Repinz”.

Slide 2: Black text on lavender background and orange borders reads “How We Move is not only a model for what access-centered dance programming can be-it’s a call to action, reminding us that liberation is a collective, ongoing practice, and that barriers of time, money, and space are only as immovable as we allow them to be. Aiesha reminds us, “imagination goes beyond money.” Access work, at its core, is an act of radical imagination, a reaching toward futures not yet written, shaped by care, creativity, and the belief that another way through is possible.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE LINK IN OUR BIO”.] https://www.rfr.bz/faa3720