Moréna Espiritual is a cuir Afro-Taíno teaching artist, performer, and organizer based in NYC. Their work focuses on ancestral healing, re-imagining societal structures to create black/brown utopias, & inquiring about all emotional bodies that can live through the “self.” They created an event series that uses experimental performance, exhibitions, workshops, and vendors to encourage the spiritul autonomy of the NYC queer community, called “In Honor of Our Roots,” which just finished its year long residency at the historic Langston Hughes House. As a performer, they have touched the stages of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, & New York Live Arts with an Off- Broadway show. Their brain child, “Stardust en el Sur: A Music History & Movement Class,” which unlocks kinetic medicine and communal dialogue through the exploration of the legacy of Afro-Diasporic genres in Latin America is currently a year old.
TAP Work:
“As an independent educator mainly working with adults, the Teaching Artist Project has been able to help me to solidify the pedagogy behind my work in both a relational way — how to interact with my students in the healthiest ways possible– but also material wise, giving me framework for lesson planning and curriculum development. I worked with the poet and educator Jay Howard at a middle school in the Bronx and this opened my mind’s eye up to the infinite possibilities teaching art through a social lens can manifest as. I recently finished the first teaching path for my educational project Stardust en el Sur – a culmination of a years worth of lessons i had been trying out with my students, using the amazing examples community word project provided as a reference/inspiration.”
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
“I remember coming together digitally, to share art during the pandemic and attend wellness check ins – a much needed release and reminder that a learning environment can be embedded with intentional care.”
Find out more about Moréna here:
