Trouble in Mind

Tiana Kaye Blair, a native of Dallas, is a director, actor, educator, culture worker and certified SoulWork artist. SoulWork is a comprehensive theater-making methodology and pedagogy based in African American performance traditions, developed by Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott. Through affirming Black artistic practices, SoulWork models inclusive pedagogy and creates space and opportunity for artists of all backgrounds to investigate cultural influences within their own artistic practices. The method engages artists in cross-community dialogue about cultural knowledge and specificity, and assimilation and appropriation, in efforts to decolonize artistic practice and curricula. Blair’s expertise as a SoulWork instructor includes acting, singing, and community engagement as well as a movement training focus developed in collaboration with Dr. Truscott. This movement branch of SoulWork focuses on building a kinesthetic awareness that allows for freedom of the vessel (the body) while exploring physical impulse from a state of emotional availability. As an artist and activist Blair has used this method to facilitate community conversations, curate artistic space within under-represented and marginalized communities, train practitioners and future theatre professionals, and create theatrical work within the professional theatre industry. Blair holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from Prairie View A&M University and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Southern Methodist University.