Okwui Okpokwasili

Okwui Okpokwasili (; born August 6, 1972) is a Nigerian-American artist, performer, choreographer, and writer. Her multidisciplinary performances draw upon her training in theatre, and she describes her work as at "the intersection of theatre, dance, and the installation." Several of her works relate to historical events in Nigeria. She is especially interested in cultural and historical memory and how the Western imagination perceives African bodies. Early life Okpokwasili was born August 6, 1972 in The Bronx, New York, daughter of Igbo Nigerians immigrants who moved to the United States to escape the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. She attended Yale University, where she met filmmaker Andrew Rossi, who made a documentary about her piece Bronx Gothic. Career Okpokwasili has become a key figure in the New York experimental dance scene. She is known for several one-woman performances and for her frequent collaborations with Ralph Lemon and Peter Born, her husband. Born often directs and designs the lighting and staging for Okpokwasili's performances. She is also known for her role in the music video for Jay-Z's album 4:44 created by TNEG, a production company founded by Arthur Jafa.<ref>Sameer Rao, [https://www.colorlines.com/articles/4-questions-bronx-gothic-creator-and-star-okwui-okpokwasili "4 Questions for 'Bronx Gothic' Creator and Star Okwui Okpokwaili"] , Color Lines, July 11, 2017.</ref>