Assist praise mother's journey to Elevate!

praise mother is a project created and directed by myself, Aaliyah Christina, to share, gather, and learn about experiences with mental health in Black families, mainly single-parent households or households that do not follow the tradition of the "nuclear family." It aims to explore these stories through dance/movement works, support groups, and witness/audience interaction.

This October, praise mother will be premiering a work-in-progress of its second iteration with We praise mother while We be FAST. This piece navigates the relationship dynamics between Black maternal figures and their children from childhood to adulthood. It challenges the demands of patriarchy, white supremacy, and religious indoctrination. A group of dancers of various ages and backgrounds performs in the J-sette/majorette style with spoken word and big band sounds. We are focusing on our bodies' joy, freedom, and autonomy with the reverence of those who raised us. We also give grace and reverence to ourselves as we negotiate how to present to the world and live our full, whole lives!

We have a little under a month to raise the funds we need to bring this work to fruition for Elevate Chicago Dance, a dance festival presented by Chicago Dancemakers Forum (Oct 13-16). Our piece of six performers, one director, and two non-dance collaborators need to fundraise for the following:

See the current cast of We praise mother while We be FAST below:

*check back for updates to meet the cast & follow @praisemother on social media to learn more about the process!

praise mother: a (N) spiritual (exhibited & performed in December 2021 and March 2022) was the first movement work under the praise mother project and it was successful because of community support and collaboration. I have so much gratitude for the folks that have supported this dream so far and I ask that anyone who is able to give and/or share this ask with your people! Any little bit helps, truly.

(p.s. praise mother is also applying for emergency grants to support our journey to Elevate so if those grants come to fruition, then I will lower the GFM goal or GFM donors will be refunded! Thank you!)