THE REMEMBRANCE
Santa Monica, CA 2025
Alternative Payment Options:
Venmo: @Aminah-Jackson
Cashapp: $AminahJackson
Zelle: 310-621-9070
A Living Altar. A Dance of Return. A Ceremony of Reclamation.
This is your sacred invitation to remember who we were before colonization told us who to be.
Through movement, rhythm, ritual, and reclamation,
The Remembrance activates deep ancestral wisdom stored in our bones.
We dance to return to ourselves.
We gather to honor the balance of the Divine Feminine & Masculine.
We heal not in isolation, but in community.
Before movement was performance, it was prayer.
Before art was product, it was spiritual expression.
To decolonize is to remove what was never ours, and reclaim what has always lived within.
🌀 Rooted in African and Indigenous cosmologies, this week-long experience is both embodied and enlightening—guiding BIPOC communities back to sovereignty, joy, and sacred power.
THE INTENSIVE SCHEDULE
Highways Performance Space and Gallery
Evening Sessions: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Each night includes a dynamic 1-hour movement session + community wellness or rehearsal, with a 10-minute break in between.
PARKING LOT ON SITE
MONDAY
DECOLONIZE THE PELVIS
Facilitator: Aminah Jackson
7:00 – 8:15 PM – Session 1: Community Wellness
Guided Meditation
Breath work
Mirror Work
Journaling
Affirmations
8:15 – 8:25 PM – Break
8:25 – 9:25 PM – Session 2: AfroCaribbean & AfroFusion Movement
Rooted in Decolonize the Pelvis style
Focus on hip articulation, fluidity, and ancestral grounding.
TUESDAY
HOUSE | COMMUNITY REHEARSAL
Facilitators: Shantel Ureña & G’bari Gilliam
7:00 – 8:15 PM – Session 1: House Dance Foundations
Rhythm play, footwork, and freedom within form
Exploration of House as a spiritual and liberatory form
8:15 – 8:25 PM – Break
8:25 – 9:25 PM – Session 2: Community Performance Rehearsal
Ensemble movement and performance development
WEDNESDAY
WEST AFRICAN | AFROFUSION | WELLNESS
Facilitators: Kara Mack & Aminah Jackson
7:00 – 8:15 PM – Session 1: West African & AfroFusion
Sabar, Doudoumba, and polyrhythmic grounding
Fusion of traditional West African movement + AfroContemporary forms
8:15 – 8:25 PM – Break
8:25 – 9:25 PM – Session 2: Wellness Integration
Afro-Somatic healing, Mindful Movement
Group reflection
THURSDAY
WAACKING | COMMUNITY REHEARSAL
Facilitator: G’bari Gilliam + Organizers
7:00 – 8:15 PM – Session 1: Waacking Foundations
Tools to embody Divine Masculine & Feminine in performance
8:15 – 8:25 PM – Break
8:25 – 9:25 PM – Session 2: Rehearsal + Staging
Integrating movement into final show flow
Spatial awareness, transitions, + performance quality training
FRIDAY
CLOSING | COMMUNITY REHEARSAL
Facilitators: All Organizers
7:00 – 8:15 PM – Session 1: Grounding + Final Flow
Reflective movement
Closing ritual and affirmation circle
8:15 – 8:25 PM – Break
8:25 – 9:25 PM – Session 2: Final Rehearsal
Full ensemble run-through
Final energy alignment + polish
SATURDAY
CULMINATION COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE
CALL TIME FOR PERFORMERS TBD
7:00 PM - SHOW TIME
Multidisciplinary showcase featuring intensive participants and professional guest artists
🎉 Post-show celebration with community members
Alternative Payment Options:
Venmo: @Aminah-Jackson
Cashapp: $AminahJackson
Zelle: 310-621-9070
MEET THE ORGANIZERS
Aminah Jackson
@MintahTumbáo
Aminah Jackson is an African American and Haitian Mexican American dancer, educator, and healing arts practitioner born in Los Angeles and raised between L.A. and Tucson, AZ. She holds a B.A. in African Studies with a Spanish Minor from Howard University, where her academic and cultural foundation deeply shaped her path.
Trained at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, The Ailey School Summer Program, and Howard University, Aminah’s movement background spans traditional West African, Afro-Latin, Mexican Folklórico, jazz, ballet, tap, Flamenco, musical theatre, Hip-Hop, and the Horton, Dunham, and Graham techniques. She was a two-time dance intern with Ronald K. Brown’s EVIDENCE Dance Company and has taught Latin Social Dance at USC, LMU, and UCLA.
Over the last decade, her focus has deepened in Afro-Latin and traditional forms including Salsa, Yoruba/Orisha, and Cuban Casino—dancing with the Afro-Cuban ensemble Ocandeniye and assisting world champion Jhesus Aponte. She remains a lifelong student of Sabar, Doudoumba, Lamba, Balanta, Haitian Yanvalou, and Caribbean dances like Merengue and Bachata.
Aminah has facilitated 10+ retreat workshops in Puerto Rico and Dominica, including SOCANOMICS by Selena Watkins and Niambi Sala’s Sacred Slumber Party (OSHUN). As founder of OSUN-OLOGY Retreats—Afro-Sensuality Healing Retreat (Puerto Rico) and Decolonize the Pelvis Retreat (Jamaica)—she centers the liberation of Black and Brown women through somatic healing, energy work, EFT, mirror work, and breathwork.
She offers private coaching, group programs, online courses, and global retreats designed to decolonize the body and restore the sacred.
Shantel Ureña
@Shantismira
Shantel Ureña is a Tampa raised Dancer, Choreographer, Filmmaker and Teacher from Tampa, Florida now residing in Los Angeles, California. She has a focus in concert, commercial and the underground freestyle dance scene. Beginning her journey in her grandparents home dancing to merengue, she later found; Ballet, Modern and Contemporary. Falling in love with Street and Club dance styles such as Animation, Hip Hop, House, Waving and Salsa. She has performed and collaborated with; Contra Tiempo ULDT; touring nationally and internationally. She featured her latest independent piece, ‘Tres Golpes’ at Blaktinx and worked with artists such as; Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa, Christina Aguilera and Ozuna.
Shantel is a passionate visionary and storyteller. Her latest short film explores the impact of the Latino vote in relation to immigration raids. Her artistry weaves together themes of familial lineage healing, social justice, and magical realism; brought to life through dance. The film is currently available on her social media platforms.
With over 13 years of teaching experience across the competitive dance industry, non-profit spaces, and community classes, she has recently begun her commercial teaching journey. She currently teaches House Foundation and Choreography at Movement Lifestyle. As an instructor, her goal is to preserve and pass down the essence and culture of House Dance to future generations for years to come.
G'bari Gilliam
@Gbaridenzel
Gbari Gilliam, a professional dancer hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. He pursued his passion for dance at UCLA, obtaining a BA in Dance in 2016, and has since excelled in an array of styles, including West African Dance, Ballet, Modern, Hip-hop, House, Waacking, Locking and more. Gbari's career as a dance artist includes collaborations with esteemed companies like Versa-Style Dance Company, A Nance Dance Collective, and Rennie Harris Pure Movement, as well as appearances in films such as The Color Purple, and A Jazzman’s Blues, and performances alongside renowned artists such as Bad Bunny, , Janelle Monae, Mya, and Billy Porter and more. Notably, he has also shared his expertise by teaching at institutions like UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, and Santa Monica College. And world renowned studios such as Millennium Dance Complex and Movement Lifestyle. Gbari uses his vast knowledge of different dance forms as well as his fluid identity to spark conversation about masculine and feminine connection in his work both on camera, on stage and in the classroom.
COME MOVE. COME HEAL. COME REMEMBER.
SUPPORT THIS MOVEMENT
Your support makes liberation tangible.
By sponsoring a participant or donating to this experience, you’re funding more than art. You’re funding ancestral remembrance, mental health, community empowerment, and creative sovereignty for BIPOC communities.
We are creating a space where joy, movement, and collective healing are not luxuries—but birthrights.
💌 To donate, please email us at [email protected]
or use any of the payment methods below.
Every dollar supports community wellness.
Asé, Amen!
Venmo: @Aminah-Jackson
Cashapp: $AminahJackson
Zelle: 310-621-9070
Connect With Us:
IG: @TheRemembrance2025
@Mintahtumbao @Shantismira @Gbaridenzel
