Dancer, Ensemble Member
Artist | Educator | Consultant | Ensemble Member
Aysha Upchurch is an entrepreneur, artist, educator, and consultant who creates, facilitates, and designs for radical change. She is a seed planter and soil agitator who weaves her passion into her commitment to critical arts pedagogy, youth advocacy, social justice, and transformative education. Radical change means shaking up the old, expanding the boundaries of what’s possible, and centering joy in the process. Whether on the stage or in the classroom or boardroom, Aysha is quite literally on the move to show what it means to be D.Ø.P.E. – dismantling oppression, pushing education.
Aysha says: “As a performing artist, I create and share stories that use dance and spoken word to spread joy and liberation.
I am the Dancing Diplomat and storytelling and a desire to positively impact this world are braided together in a cord that runs throughout my work. As a dancer, choreographer, and educator I seek to stir up the stagnant in an effort to open the way for more liberation and joy. My movement is informed by African diaspora and I often combine it spoken word to engage, entertain, and empower audiences. Whether as performer or choreographer, my process involves self-reflection, journaling, dialogue, and movement experimentation, celebrating the iterative processes that yield a product that reflects my mission.”
![Waco Cultural Arts Fest & [254] Dance Fest](http://lannaya.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/11014947_10106716265387200_6942093694455470886_n-1-85x85.jpg)
