Photography by Melisa Cardona
BIO
Rebecca Mwase (they/she) is a midwife to creation. They guide individuals, organizations and communities in the intentional process of transformation towards the most evolved version of themselves. As a queer, Zimbabwean-American theater and performance artist, ritualist, creative consultant, facilitator, and cultural organizer, Rebecca’s work lives at the intersection of art and social justice. Her work investigates belonging, home and the borders we create that separate us from our selves, each other and our humanity. In all aspects of Mwase’s work - creative change processes, facilitation, coaching, ritual and performance - she mines ancestral embodied memory to discover our truths; the essence of our stories and creates containers that release the toxic, stagnant energies of systemic oppression. Rebecca utilizes artistic and creative forms rooted in African and Afro-Indigenous cosmologies to instigate transformation and transmute the energies of systemic dysfunction into clear visions, experimental and adaptable structures, and personal/collective practices that sustain our new ways of being. What emerges from their work is a clarified sense of self, deepened relationships with collaborators and new ways of being crafted to achieve individual and collective visions.
Rebecca has trained with ArtSpot Productions, Dah Theater, the Highlander Center for Research & Education, Urban Bush Women and Junebug Productions in cultural organizing, devising and storytelling. As an ensemble member of ArtSpot Productions, Rebecca received a 2010 Big Easy Award for Best Original Work for "Go Ye Therefore...", and a 2013 Big Easy for Best Ensemble for "Kiss, Kiss Julie." They also received a Wall Alumni Service Award in 2010 for their work as Program Director of ArtSpot’s educational program Individuals Relating & Overcoming Conflict, a theatre-centered character development and conflict resolution program. Her work has toured nationally and internationally, and her projects have been funded by Alternate ROOTS, the Network of Ensemble Theaters, the We Shall Overcome Fund, and the National Performance Network. They are a recipient of the Rockefeller MAP Fund grant, the TCG Global Connections grant and a co-recipient of the NEFA NTP Touring Award for Vessels with collaborator Ron Ragin. They are also a 2016 A Blade of Grass-David Rockefeller Fund Joint Fellow in Criminal Justice. Rebecca's most recent original works are Vessels, a seven woman harmonic meditation on the Middle Passage, her solo piece Looking at A Broad, and Last Call’s Alleged Lesbian Activities. They have supported the transformation work of Sierra Club, ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and Catawba College TA Department among many others. They are a co-founder of LOUD (New Orleans Queer Youth Theater) former Board President of Alternate ROOTS and serve on the board of the Network of Ensemble Theaters.
Rebecca is a 2007 graduate of Grinnell College with a B.A. in Chinese & Theater.
Photography by Kaya Williams
ABOUT US
Desired Evolutions is a mantra, an intention and a process. We work with organizations, community groups, students and individuals who are on a journey of self and community transformation. Desired Evolutions works as a bridge-builder, providing tools, frameworks, facilitated critical dialogue and exchange to build one’s toolkit for the intentional alignment of becoming one’s most evolved self. Our process utilizes art; weaving storytelling, songs, movement and dialogue into a tapestry that encourages the manifestation of new skills, tighter communities, inspired visions and dynamic art.