Tamara Williams approaches research with the fluidity of the tidal rivers in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where she studies the diasporic dances of her ancestors. History, movement and meaning flow into her and out of her in a process that swirls the academic and the vernacular like streams of saltwater into fresh. 

“That continuous circle that she creates, it leaps out from the scholarship and the research,” said Rubie Britt-Height, director of community relations at The Mint Museum in Charlotte. “From an academic standpoint, a community standpoint, a scholarly standpoint — she makes sure all those pieces are connected. She is constantly looking for ways to extend that invitation, that connectivity.”

The Mint Museum is one of numerous local venues where Williams, an associate professor of dance, goes to both teach and learn from the communities around her. There and in other spaces, such as the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture, Aldersgate Retirement Community and Camino Community Center, Williams brings professional artists and University students to perform, teach and talk about the dances of the African diaspora. Among her areas of focus are Ring Shout, descended from enslaved Americans in the southeastern United States, and the many African-Brazilian dance forms she has learned in more than a dozen years of studies in Brazil.

“The research comes from Black communities that usually have been marginalized but are rich in culture,” said Williams, who grew up in Georgia. “It’s a way of giving back and to bridge the gap between academia and communities where we come from.” 

Tamara Williams approaches research with the fluidity of the tidal rivers in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where she studies the diasporic dances of her ancestors. History, movement and meaning flow into her and out of her in a process that swirls the academic and the vernacular like streams of saltwater into fresh. 

“That continuous circle that she creates, it leaps out from the scholarship and the research,” said Rubie Britt-Height, director of community relations at The Mint Museum in Charlotte. “From an academic standpoint, a community standpoint, a scholarly standpoint — she makes sure all those pieces are connected. She is constantly looking for ways to extend that invitation, that connectivity.”

The Mint Museum is one of numerous local venues where Williams, an associate professor of dance, goes to both teach and learn from the communities around her. There and in other spaces, such as the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture, Aldersgate Retirement Community and Camino Community Center, Williams brings professional artists and University students to perform, teach and talk about the dances of the African diaspora. Among her areas of focus are Ring Shout, descended from enslaved Americans in the southeastern United States, and the many African-Brazilian dance forms she has learned in more than a dozen years of studies in Brazil.

“The research comes from Black communities that usually have been marginalized but are rich in culture,” said Williams, who grew up in Georgia. “It’s a way of giving back and to bridge the gap between academia and communities where we come from.”