ABOUT
MEET THE TEAM
Norma Porter| Founding
Publisher
& Editor
Norma is the Founding Publisher and Editor of Black Dance Magazine, and an adjunct professor of dance. As a dance artist, Norma trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Maryland Youth Ballet and American University. Norma teaches dance workshops and choreographs for the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, and performs with Bessie-nominated artist Lela Aisha Jones|Flyground. Norma has published works in Ebony Magazine, The Crisis Magazine and AOL Politics Daily. She holds a undergraduate and graduate degrees in Journalism from American University.
Julinda D. Lewis|Assistant Editor &
Advisory Board Member
Julinda grew up in Brooklyn, New York and studied with George Faison, Fred Benjamin, Eleo Pomare, Dianne McIntyre, Maurice Hines, Ella Thompson Moore, Loremil Machado, Pepsi Bethel and at Clark Center for the Performing Arts. Julinda earned a BS and MA in Dance and Dance Education (New York University) and a MSEd in Early Childhood Education (Brooklyn College), and has been writing about dance and theater for more than 30 years. She is the author of Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance and editor of Black Choreographers Moving Towards the 21st Century. Her anti-biography Whistlin’ Women & Crowin’ Hens and a chapter in I Will Dance ‘til a Hundred and One! by Janine Turner are available on Amazon.com. After 30+ years of teaching in public schools in NY and VA, Julinda retired in June 2015. She blogs for RVArt Review (jdldancesrva.com), has worked as an Adjunct at Virginia Commonwealth University teaching Dance History courses and also teaches BeMoved® and Gentle BeMoved® dance fitness for seniors. Julinda, who turned 65 in February 2020 has recently performed in contemporary site-based works including by MK Abadoo, including the duet Locs, Octavia’s Brood: Riding the Ox Home, and the multi-media work Brother General Gabriel.
Maxwell Waterman|
Editorial Reviewer
&
Advisory Board Member
“Unbought and unbossed,” the timeless quote of the Bajan-bred Shirley Chisholm, blueprints the life of the Bajan-bred Maxwell Louis Waterman. Afro-Caribbean American, Androgynous, and Gay, Mr. Waterman is a larger-than-life personality on a mission to fulfill his life’s vocation: educating the minds and elevating the consciousnesses of the masses. The spunky trauma-informed (dance) educator, investigator, and healer advocates for the integration, and implementation, of social-emotional development practices within all educational settings. He encourages educators to perceive each student with a holistic approach, particularly adopting the responsibility of devising instructional methods that nurture the mental and emotional wellness of each student. In 2020, he created The Elevated Conscious Curriculum (For Dancers)©, a trauma-informed critical pedagogy that uses communication with compassion, understanding of historical revisionism, and mindfulness to enhance the humanity, and artistry, of dance students and educators. Mr. Waterman currently teaches elements of his curriculum as a Social-Emotional Learning Educator at The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and as a Lecturer of Dance at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. His message to all souls who cross his path is, “It’s not what you do that defines who you are. It’s who you are that defines who you are.”
Meredith Rainey|
Layout Designer & Advisory Board Member
Meredith Rainey began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. In 1985 he joined the Milwaukee Ballet. In 1987, he was invited to join the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, remaining with the Pennsylvania Ballet when the collaboration ended—the majority of the time as a soloist—until his retirement in 2006. Among other awards and fellowships, Meredith has been the recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship (1995 & 2002), the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist as Catalyst Grant (2001), the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts (2002), a finalist for the Pew Fellowship in the Arts (2003), and a Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant (2010). Meredith has been commissioned to create works for Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet De Cali, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble and institutions such as The University of the Arts, Drexel University, Stockton University, Goucher College, Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College. His work has been performed in North and South America and throughout Spain. In 2009 Meredith founded and directed Carbon Dance Theatre, a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia. In 2014 after deciding to concentrate on more artistic projects Meredith closed the company and remained a sought-after teacher, mentor, and independent choreographer. In the Summer of 2018 Meredith became a member of the first University of the Arts Master of Fine Arts in Dance cohort and graduated in May of 2020.
Abby Carlozzzo|
Development Coordinator
Abby Carlozzo presently serves as the Development & Fundraising Coordinator for Black Dance Magazine and an Assistant Director at a preschool in Austin, TX ,where she is able to incorporate elements of dance into the creative curriculum classroom. Abby is the author of “Embodying Rhythm: Improvisation as Agency in African Dance”, a chapter featured in Hot Feet and Social Change: African Dance and Diaspora Communities edited by Kariamu Welsh, Esailama G. A. Diuof, and Yvonne Daniel. Abby graduated with a BFA in Dance from The Ohio State University before going on to pursue her MA in Dance from Temple University. In 2014, she conducted research in cross-cultural collaboration and studied various neo-traditional and contemporary West African dance forms in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Inspired by this collaborative endeavor, Abby’s current research focuses on the diverse approaches to dance improvisation that exist in the United States.
Enya-Kalia Jordan|
Advisory Board Member
Enya-kalia Jordan is a choreographer, dancer, and teaching artist from Brooklyn, New York. She is an alumna of Buffalo State College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance. She will be completing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Temple University in Fall 2019. Enya-kalia has performed with Nana Baakan’s Africa’s Voices, Kariamu & Company, the Kimmel Center’s Philadelphia Festival of the Arts, Dr. S. Ama Wray, and many others. She founded and artistically directs her movement-based artist collective, Enya Kalia Creations. Currently, Enya-kalia is a teaching artist with Walnut Street Theater. This fall Enya-kalia begins working as a Teaching Artist- Community Facilitator with Camille A. Brown & Dancers' Every Body Move Initiative and a Teaching-Artist with Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Dance Africa program. She also accepted a position as the Youth Company Director at Cora Dance in New York.
Princess Mhoon|Advisory Board Member
Princess Mhoon is a choreographer, producer, educator, and scholar recognized in 2015 by HUFFINGTON POST as one of 26 Female Choreographers "You Should Know" and Dance Magazine's 2006 "Top 25 to Watch" in the world for the Women's Choreography Project titled This Woman's Work. Mhoon is a second-generation artist and entrepreneur who has set her sights on enhancing the artistic landscape of the Nation’s Capital. In 2016 she was invited to participate as one of the region's leading dance leaders by First Lady Michelle Obama during her Celebration of Black Women in Dance; she also served as a panelist for The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans during Women's History Month and acknowledged by the administration as Black Girl Change Maker. Currently she serves as an adjunct professor of dance at American University and continues to usher her dance institute, the Princess Mhoon Dance Institute, into its 10th year of amazing dance instruction!
Ursula Payne|Advisory Board Member
Ursula Payne is an Independent Artist and Professor of Dance at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. She is the former Department of Dance Chairperson at SRU and the first African American to chair an academic department for three consecutive terms at the 130 year-old institution. Payne also served as the Director of the Frederick Douglass Institute at SRU for four years where she sponsored and collaborated on over thirty programming events related to enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. Payne’s research interests include educational leadership, performance, wellness, pedagogy, curriculum development and technology. Payne received a master of fine arts from the Department of Dance at Ohio State University and a bachelor of arts from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
Jamia Ramsey|Advisory Board Member
Jamia Ramsey is the founder and CEO of Blendz Apparel, a dancewear company that specializes in providing high-quality fleshtone dancewear and dance shoes in a variety of shades to accommodate dancers of all complexions. A native of Atlanta, GA, where she received her formative dance training, she went on to receive her BA in dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh and later founded her own dance school for at-risk youth back in her hometown.Throughout her dance career, Ramsey experienced first hand the troubles of finding nude dancewear and dance shoes that matched medium to dark skin tones. Out of this need and the demand for more fleshtone options, Ramsey created Blendz. Ramsey is honored to be a part of the city of Atlanta's Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative 2020 Cohort and on the advisory board of The Black Dance Magazine. Her mission is to not only to fulfill an unmet need in the dancewear market but to ensure that every dancer is wholly represented, feels comfortable and confident inside and out in every aspect of the industry!
Valerie Jerusha Rochon|Advisory Board Member
Valerie J. Rochon is a veteran New York State Certified K-12 Dance Teacher, with the New York City Department of Education. During her tenure, she was appointed a City-wide Professional Development Facilitator for Dance; and contributed to the publication of the Blueprint For Teaching and Learning in Dance-Grades PreK-12. Rochon currently is a Dance Teacher Mentor with the Arnhold Dance Teacher Support Program for NYC Public and Charter schools. In 2019, Valerie was selected as an A’Lelia Bundles Community Scholar at Columbia University. Her fellowship was granted to write a biography and catalogue the artifacts/works of Jean Léon Destiné, Haitian vodun folklore scholar, choreographer and dance pioneer. Ms. Rochon holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and Arizona State University. She established a Dance program at South Mountain High School, in Phoenix, Arizona and organized dance retreats for marginalized students. Valerie performed extensively with the Black Theater Troupe and toured nationally and internationally with the House of Blues, Wajumbe Cultural Ensemble, Izulu Dance Theater, Sheila’s Day and SARAFINA! Rochon also researched and compiled the first African American Dance [Company] Directory, of which the Directory and supplemental materials are archived in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.