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

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IN THE BEGINNING

Weléla Mar Kindred was born and raised between Oakland and Southern California and was inspired by art and sound at home very early on. Her mother was born and raised in Oakland, connected to the Black Panthers and worked on the popular sitcom - "What's Happening."  Her mother was also a prominent math educator for over 30 years and violinist who inspired Weléla to play piano early on and hone the gift of music and dance. Her father was born and raised in Gary, IN and was also rooted in photography, math and science.  As a retired biologist, entrepreneur and self-taught photographer, he introduced Weléla to his record collection, photography and love of science. 

WRITING

With her early studies in dance, the sciences and photography, (she wanted a microscope and camera very early on), and music - this creative environment guided her to discover her talents early on. She was always in dance class since 4 years old, but she also loved writing poetry in grade school and kept journals.  Her favorite writer at that time was Shakespeare. 

THE DARKROOM

While in Jr. High, she was enrolled in photography + darkroom courses for 3 years by age 12.  She discovered a new world and blended her course work, with her yearbook class as well.  Learning the art of layouts and developing film from shooting, using an enlarger to creating a finished photo was magical. This sparked a new found passion for black and white photography and the darkroom process which lasts to this day.

BLACK ART SCENE

Both of her parents were involved in the Black art scene in Los Angeles and were collectors of works by fellow friends such as Ernie Barnes and Charles Dickson from Watts.  As the home was full of contemporary Black art of the time and soul music played at late night parties - her creative path began to unfold.  From the church space to the dance studio, she learned very quickly the beauty of being a disruptor, a Black artist, the creative process and Black artistic freedom.  

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BLACK DANCE

Weléla is a dancer.  She saw The Dance Theater of Harlem perform with beautiful Black women adorned in red sequins costumes and wiggling their bodies with Geoffrey Holder very early on.  She never knew a day without going to the studio.  Her studio practice began so young, that dance is apart of her DNA.  At the age of four years old Weléla began her studio practice by studying Dunham, Horton, modern, west African, ballet, jazz, tap and musical theater everyday excepts for Sundays.  She began choreographing very early on, and found a home in her body.  Her dream was to become a professional dancer for Black theatrical productions.

BLACK THEATER

She auditioned for Santa Monica Playhouse and was the youngest company member.  She was signed to a talent agent and manager by age 5.  After her run with SMP she joined The Orange County Black Actors Theatre Company under the direction of Adeline Hunter & Zondra Ann Marshall.  She continued with her dance studies and performed and traveled with them as well as with their youth theater company - The Lorraine Hansberry Players.  As a result of this work she began booking with NBC Studios doing television. She was featured in "Call to Glory" starring Craig T. Nelson.  As her dance practice grew she joined The St. Joseph Ballet Company.  She studied ballet and worked with them for four years.  The entire company was a Black and Brown ballet company.

TRACK & FIELD 

She later graduated high school, was awarded a track scholarship to attend Cal Poly Pomona - but she decided to drop out and become a pro - dancer.  During this time she had a severe hamstring injury, but she still studied at The Edge Dance Studios taking class every day.  She was signed to Bobby Ball Talent Agency, and was shooting photography on the side in the Los Angeles hip-hop scene. She began shooting musical stars in the early 90s like Outkast and Helter Skelter.  Her injury worsened.

ART SCHOOL 

During her undergraduate studies, she realized that her injury was getting bad, so she applied to art school to give her body a rest and relocated to Chicago. She was rewarded the Dean's scholarship to study Cinema, Photography and Performance Art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While studying, she returned to dance and joined Joel Hall Dance Center and Homer Bryant Ballet Chicago.  She was able to balance both her studies at SAIC and her dance studio practice simultaneously.

NYC

Later she resided in New York, where she continued working as a dancer with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, signed with Clear Talent Dance NYC and was awarded the Dance New Amsterdam Choreographer Lab Artist in Residence.  Her career in dance was beginning to take off - working with Busta Rhymes, MTV and various hip - hop artists.

PARIS

By 2009, she got a flat in Paris and lived and worked in contemporary danse for seven years.  The new artistic landscape of the city of lights was new, and she found herself immersed French, Afro-Contemporary dance, Afro-Parisian art + music, racial body political research, historical photography archives and French architecture.

She was commissioned to choreograph original danse pieces.  Her work was featured in the FRASQ Festival, Sony France, Nuit Blanche and many other festivals and short films.  She continued to research at the Centre National de la Dance Bibliotheque meeting with Katherine Dunham's daughter.  While in Paris she was also invited to perform at Chale Woté Global Arts Festival in Accra, Ghana. Her body of work was growing, her injury was healed, and she credits the healing through her strong yoga practice.  She began her yogic journey in 2000, so while in Paris she became a certified yoga teacher and began teaching at the infamous Le Tigre Yoga Studio.

NYU FELLOW

After returning to the states in 2016, she received an NYU and Harvard Fellowship for her research on Black body politics.  Her paper was featured at The University of Johannesburg, and were featured in Art Africa.

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IN CLOSING

As a multi-hyphenate artist, writer, actor, director and producer - Weléla moves the pulse of creativity through cultural interaction. She is passionate about building projects that not only affect the culture, but create a powerful social impact.

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She is a member of the Actors' Equity Association, ASCAP as a songwriter and her global rep is Le Casting Parisien. 

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THANK YOU

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