Join Master Teacher Monique Walker for a special workshop introducing the Umfundalai contemporary African dance technique. Created in 1970 by dance scholar, the late Kariamu Welsh, D. Arts, Umfundalai comprises its movement vocabulary from dance traditions throughout the African Diaspora. The literal word, Umfundalai, means “essential” in Kiswahili.  Much like Katherine Dunham, Welsh has designed a stylized movement practice that seeks to articulate an essence of African–oriented movement, or as she has described, “an approach to movement that is holistic, body centric and organic.” Participants will have a comprehensive experience of the technique that includes a dance class to live drumming, making their class attire, learning basic rhythm patterns, and collectively creating a short dance piece reflecting the experience. Experienced and non-experienced dancers and musicians are welcome.

Monique Walker

Monique is a dance artist and has traveled the world as a performer, educator, choreographer, and arts advocate. She has studied under many dance masters and institutions, including Dr. Charles "Chuck" Davis, Dr. Katherine Dunham, Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Philadanco!, and The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Based in Waldorf, Maryland (USA), Monique holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arts Administration, is a Master of Arts candidate in Dance Studies, a Master Teacher of the Umfundalai contemporary African dance technique, and a Dance adjunct faculty member at the College of Southern Maryland. She also teaches workshops and regular Umfundalai classes throughout the DC metropolitan area. Monique has served as guest lecturer at Drexel University and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and on the dance faculty at North Carolina State University and The School at Jacob’s Pillow. She is the former Assistant to the Artistic Director of Chuck Davis’ African American Dance Ensemble (NC), a former apprentice with Urban Bush Women (NY), and a former principal dancer with Kariamu & Company: Traditions (PA). Her choreography has been presented at the North Carolina Dance Festival, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival (PA), Dance Place (DC), and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (MD). Monique continues her mission of using dance, music, and theater as a vehicle for the preservation, promotion, and innovation of African Diasporan dance through her work as a choreographer with her project-based performance company, MoDance Works.

In this workshop we will focus on ways to capture the spirit, history, and significance of Southern Maryland in poetry and fiction. The session will be driven by a brief brainstorming session about how the region’s past, present, or future; either real or imagined, speaks to us and how we can use the region as inspiration in our writing. Published works of literature with an emphasis on Southern Maryland will be discussed and used as examples during the brainstorming session. Subject matter for workshop participants can consist of the region’s natural environment, human presence, specific buildings or sites, hometowns, or culture, among other ideas. Attendees will have time to start new poems and works of fiction during the workshop. We will conclude by sharing our drafts and discussing ways to strengthen them in the future. This workshop is designed for all levels of writers.

Jeffrey Lamar Coleman

Jeffrey Lamar Coleman is a professor of English at St. Mary's College of Maryland where he teaches creative writing and 20th and 21st century literature. Coleman is also the editor of Words of Protest, Words of Freedom: Poetry of the American Civil Rights Movement and Era, author of Spirits Distilled: Poems, and associate editor of the Journal of Hip Hop Studies. His most recent creative and scholarly work can be found in Aunt Chloe: A Journal of Artful Candor, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience, and The Black Intellectual Tradition: African American Thought in the Twentieth Century.

Birds and Bees, and all the Critters of Spring: Come spend some time making a tile with local artist Parran Collery. Using simple traditional techniques we will create a relief sculpted tile, adding details and color. Tiles will be fired off-site and available for pick-up at a later date. Please feel free to bring an image you are interested in working from (size 6-8") but not required, inspirational materials will be available. Please dress in studio clothes.

Parran Collery - Eartha Handmade Tile

Parran Collery is a ceramic artist working with relief sculpted clay and tiles. Parran founded her studio in Southern Maryland in 1997, an area that still has working farms, woods and forests, both the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay as places to explore. Her inspiration derives from observations of the natural world, its bits and  pieces, geometry and flow, natural and organic patterns. She is curiously interested in the everyday aspects of nature: birds and bugs, leaves and flowers, rural vistas. These become the starting points for her designs, inflected by art history, graphic design, and color play. 

Parran received a BA from the University of Vermont and an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She began a sculpture career that included  exhibitions in many galleries and museums throughout the 1990’s, and taught as an  adjunct instructor at Toms River Community College in NJ. After an apprenticeship an  art studio in the historically tile-rich area of Bucks County PA, her focus shifted to relief sculpted tiles and mosaics, and she moved back to her hometown to launch Eartha Handmade Tile, a ceramic production studio. Her tiles and mosaic designs have been exhibited extensively and are included in many homes. She has also been a popular  visiting artist-in-residence, working with young students at more than a dozen schools in Maryland and Virginia to create permanent tile installations. 

Parran’s focus over the past several years has turned to public projects, working with communities to create enlivening works of art. These include wall mosaics, sculptures, and art benches, for both interior and outdoors environments. Partnering with multiple  stakeholders and often including local community members in the art making process, Parran brings her love of nature to the forefront of these projects, creating compelling  designs that invite the viewer to slow down and contemplate her art, and by extension their own backyards, making our sense of the everyday more precious and profound. Embracing the wisdom of environmentalist Rachel Carson: “Drink in the beauty and wonder at the meaning of everything you see.”

In this class we teach you how to take raw honey, wax, and propolis from your beehives and other natural oils and turn them into products you can use. It's not just candle making anymore. Some products improve health and wellness for your family or you can sell as part of your business plan. You don't even have to own bees to be able to make these items, but sourcing your raw materials is easier, free and fun as a Beekeeper. This is a hands on class where we will show you the tools and skills needed to make your own healing salves, lip balms, body butter moisturizers and more.

Diane Wellons - Deez L’Town Beez

After battling Lyme disease for years and undergoing extensive treatments, Diane turned to natural healing and discovered the benefits of local honey. Her journey toward wellness sparked a deep passion for beekeeping, not only as a personal healing tool but also as a way to support her rural community and local ecology. What began with three colonies has grown into a thriving business, with up to 50 hives during peak season. Diane finds peace, purpose, and healing in caring for bees, and believes they have helped ease her Lyme symptoms. She now shares her love for beekeeping with others, hoping to make a difference—one hive at a time.