Workshops
At the crossroads of performance, social justice, and embodied healing, Black Feather Theatre Co. offers transformative workshops that use art as a tool for personal insight, collective healing, and political engagement.
Led by Dr. Yao Kahlil Newkirk—multidisciplinary artist, scholar, and creator of the EMBODY™ method, these sessions draw from his acclaimed durational performance , a one-year artistic protest and tribute to Black lives lost to racial violence. Through embodied practices rooted in ritual, resistance, and cultural memory, these workshops offer participants a deeply moving space to reflect, reconnect, and reimagine.
YOUR BODY, YOUR STORY: Art for Justice and Joy (YOUTH)
This workshop is designed to help young people use art as a tool for healing, expression, and social justice. We create a safe, creative space where students can explore their feelings, tell their stories, and learn how their voices, and their bodies, can make a difference.
Through hands-on art projects, storytelling, and simple movement-based activities, participants will gain tools to express themselves, support one another, and think critically about the world around them. We guide them in turning hard experiences into powerful messages, helping them see how creativity can be both personal and political.
Whether students are processing their own emotions or learning how to stand up for others, this workshop shows them how art can be a powerful way to heal, connect, and create change—in their communities and beyond.
CUSTOM WORKSHOPS
At the intersection of art, embodiment, and social justice, Dr. Yao Kahlil Newkirk offers custom workshops designed to meet the unique needs of corporate teams, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations.
Drawing from his acclaimed durational performance Separation Anxiety and the trauma-informed EMBODY™ method, each workshop is thoughtfully crafted to help participants engage in meaningful reflection, community healing, and transformational learning.
These experiences use interdisciplinary tools—performance, storytelling, movement, and guided dialogue—to explore topics such as racial equity, leadership, identity, wellness, and cultural accountability.
Whether your organization seeks to support staff wellbeing, deepen DEI practices, enhance curriculum, or strengthen community culture, each workshop is designed to be immersive, responsive, and impactful.
BODIES OF TRUTH: Healing through Art & Activism
This workshop invites participants into a space where performance becomes practice—where storytelling, ritual, and creative expression allow individuals and communities to name their traumas, activate their truths, and imagine liberated futures.
Through embodied exercises, guided discussion, and interdisciplinary art-making, we explore how to transform pain into purpose, presence into power, and creativity into a force for social justice. Participants learn how art can be both a healing tool and a strategy for confronting injustice, amplifying marginalized voices, and building more equitable communities.
What Our Clients Say
Dept. of Culturally & Linguistically Responsive Initiatives
"The youth workshop was transformative. Our students felt seen, inspired, and empowered to express themselves through art. Yao's ability to connect, heal, and ignite purpose through creativity is unmatched. We can’t wait to bring him back!"
