ELASTIC MIND
By Christian Alexander
Directed by Weléla Mar Kindred
August 18 - September 4 / 2022
Greenhouse Theater Center Chicago
2257 N Lincoln Ave
(Parental advisory: Adult themes and content)
INTIMATE APPAREL
By Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage
Directed by Weléla Mar Kindred
April 21 - May 1 2022
St. Croix Falls Theatre
Get your tickets NOW!!
Tix at festivaltheatre.org
(Parental advisory: Adult themes and content)
CANVAS WORK
Blvck Love Mixed-Media Series
a rebirth of expression / creativity / pleasure
THE L V M B COLLECTIVE
Say: L A M B
Artists make the worst slaves! ®
The L V M B Collective (pronounced L A M B) believes in an ever-evolving market of contemporary art spaces, global brands and culture. The possibility to inspire, innovate and tell a different story - keeps LVMB at the creative forefront of the community, theater, cinema, luxury, fashion, art, tech and sustainability.
kneeling under a table of rain / secrets told / earth is learned / animals meditate
L V M B
their souls constituted / a freedom of dried fragrances / prayer language
ART X CREATIVE DIRECTION
We are a collective of artists x directors who embrace creativity. Our conceptual sensibility and choreographic capabilities - offers human relationship before demographics, courage before culture and we believe storytelling is the new social sanctuary.
ACTRESS X DANCER X ARTIST
Weléla Mar Kindred is a multi-hyphenated artist, director, contemporary choreographer, and creative director. Given her capability to work closely with communal youth, grassroots theatre, tech, lifestyle, luxury, fashion, cinema, theater, music, and sustainable brands - she uses a rich creative language throughout a variety of mediums for different clients/brands. She is represented by Le Casting Parisien
CHOREOGRAPHY
Performance pieces using movement are not just about dance, but how you feel while creating it. Skin to skin, body to body - each work, or experience we create is one of imagination, collaboration and a sense of surrender.
Each work has made an impact on our clients - every project we ensure details are seamless, all aspects are imaginative and handled in a timely manner. Whenever you work with L V M B you can be sure your project will be radical, profound and honest.
FEATURED COMMERCIAL
Please tap Balenciaga to view
Client: Matthew Rolston Studios
Director: Mei Dong
Choreographer: L V M B
CLIENTS
adidas
The Silver Room
Cannes Film Festival
Aveda
Paul Mitchell
MTV
Matthew Rolston Studio
Francis Lawrence
Puma
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater
Ford Models
Le Tigre Yoga Paris
Sony Paris
Acote + Cotelac Paris
Art Africa Journal South Africa
Contemporary Art of Ghana
Chale Wote Festival
ARTISTS
Past Collaborators:
Poet: Ladan Osman
Artist: Krista Franklin
Artist: Abdullah Khan
Guest dancers invited upon request.
PARTNERS
Studio partnership with LVMB
AGNC: Digital Brand Identity Creators
Websites + Animation + Digital Brand Identity Services
In Support: The James Baldwin Estate {New York}, Le Collectif James Baldwin de Paris.
Centre National de la Danse
Menagerie de Verre
Le Centquatre
Micadanses
Artistic Grant Support:
The International Association of Blacks in Dance
The Dance Resource Center
The Tides Foundation
STUDIO HOURS
By Appointment Only
Mon - Thur: 8am - 6pm
Fri: 8am - 2pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: 10a - 3p
GET IN TOUCH
FOUNDER
Weléla Mar Kindred is an American actress, director, contemporary dancer + choreographer, designer and multi-media artist. She is becoming one of the most sought after directors + actresses in theater and international cinema.
W E L É L A M A R K I N D R E D
Short - Formal Bio:
Definition: lamb noun /’lam/ : a young sheep : lamb of God : an innocent or gentle person
Examples of lamb : She’s as gentle as a lamb.
Synonyms of lamb : angel : dove : innocent
Antonym of lamb : wolf
The L V M B Collective: Established in 2009 ~ LVMB’s objective is to interrogate western identity and Afro-anthropology. It examines the relationship between the physical and philosophical praxis of post-colonial meta~narratives {digital and abstract}. Lamb was founded by actress x site-specific choreographer Weléla Mar Kindred and developed by a tribe of visionaries. Beyond danse, theater, and folklore ~ Lamb embraces rights of the black body, while fostering a social sanctuary of love.
Actress/dancer/choreographer/artist ~Weléla Mar Kindred was born and raised in the Southern California area. Her mother is a dancer, mathematician, and musician ~ inspiring her to hone the gift of movement. Her father is a retired biologist/photographer and lover of music ~ both her parents are avid art collectors. Her name given to her by her Ethiopian godmother translates in Amharic ~ the sweetest part of the honeycomb. Weléla's extended family is currently based in Addis Ababa.
She was awarded the Dean's scholarship to study Film / Performance Art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago ~ as well been awarded the Dance New Amsterdam Choreographer Lab Artist in Residence {New York} and Artceb Suriname Artist in Residence. She lived in Paris from 2009 ~ 2016 reconstructing ideas of the body, surrender, and fragmentation where her work was featured in the FRASQ Festival, Nuit Blanche, and the Chale Wote Festival {Jamestown, Ghana}. Through site-specific performances and installations, she received an NYU / Harvard Fellowship and the Tides Grant. Her writings have appeared in Art Africa and Vivimus Magazine.
Full Bio:
Actress/dancer/choreographer/artist ~Weléla Mar Kindred was born and raised in the Southern California area. Her mother is a dancer, mathematician, and musician ~ inspiring her to hone the gift of movement. Her father is a retired biologist/photographer and lover of music ~ both her parents are avid art collectors. Her name given to her by her Ethiopian godmother translates in Amharic ~ the sweetest part of the honeycomb. Weléla's extended family is currently based in Addis Ababa.
She began training as a dancer at the local YMCA in Santa Ana, California in 1980, while becoming the youngest member of The Santa Monica Playhouse. In 1981 she became a member of a young theater group for children of color - The Lorraine Hansberry Players under the direction of Adelaine Hunter (the first Black woman director who made an indelible impression on her). Soon after she became a member of Ms. Hunter's adult touring company - The Orange County Black Actors Theater from 1982-1989. While performing she also trained in a pre-professional ballet program at The St. Joseph Ballet Company under the direction of Beth Burns from 1986-1989.
From 1990 to 2000 she trained as a pre-collegiate track athlete with her step-father who was a hurdler in the Pan Am Games and also a member of the winning University of Wisconsin Rose Bowl team. He helped train her throughout high school assisting her in being awarded a track and field scholarship with a concentration in hurdles at Cal Poly Pomona.
While training with Olympic hurdle coach Tony Campbell - she began expressing a deep desire to work in art through film and focused on photography. While she continued to study dance, she signed with Bobby Ball Dance Agency L.A. and began experimenting with black and white 35mm photography. One of her first photographic essays featured the unsheltered in Los Angeles which caught the eye of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also had shot Outkast, Helter Skelter, and various L.A. hip-hop artists - including the historical House of Blues on Sunset Blvd Los Angeles.
In 2000 she transferred university programs to study at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago - where she was awarded the Dean's scholarship for her body of work including the photo essay of the unsheltered in Los Angeles. While living in Chicago she also was modeling and signed with Ford Models.
Weléla worked closely with After School Matters Chicago youth with Brother Mike Hawkins RIP 12/4/04 ( her then fianceé and first to call her a queen). There they both curated a mindful tech-based youth curriculum for young high school students - specifically young women in art+tech. At the same time, Bro. Mike and Weléla would host a weekly set at their loft on Lake St. entitled - "Lyricist Loft". This space was truly a safe space for Black artistic bodies. An agency, a check-in, and an incubator. Fashion, poeme, and love flourished at this loft. Chadwick C Makes was their flatemate.
While at SAIC her work was featured at The Betty Rymer Gallery - a short performance film featuring sound footage of Sept 11. She performed in Genet's "The Blacks," and was the VP of Nia - The Black Student's Arts Collective at SAIC. Her two majors while at the Art Institute were performance art and Afro-Cinema-later she moved to New York signing with Clear Talent Group. She trained at HB Acting studios and for three years had the honor to train and work with The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
In 2008 she relocated to Paris - where she worked in dance, theater, and culture throughout Europe for 7 years. Upon returning to the states in 2016 she was invited to South Africa by NYU - hand-picked by Deborah Willis and affiliated with Dr. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard to present her research and work based on Black Body Politics. As an NYU Fellow, this work later was featured in the South African arts and culture periodical - 'Art Africa.'
Throughout her practice, she has been awarded apprenticeships and awards for her performance work. Weléla wants to continue to establish new creative alliances which are vital for Black women and the entire BIPOC creative community.
She currently lives in beautiful Chicago, where she trains with Acting Studio Chicago.
She is presently represented by Le Casting Parisien.