Meet Melissa Word

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Word.

Melissa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
A couple of things inspired me to make Atlanta my home about three years ago ~ I was here temporarily working as a dancer on a performance project, 25, trying to figure out my next move after a spell living and traveling outside the US. The things I was looking for to ground me were space to work and a community of artists that, in equal measure, challenge and nourish each other’s creative practices. I found both with The Lucky Penny, who offered me a studio residency at their gorgeous dance space in East Point, Work Room.

Alongside a handful of the bravest, dopest dance artists and thinkers, I found this immediate flow to fold into and co-create within. Around the same time, I landed a spot on the dance crew of Flux Project’s UpRight: Atlanta – a Nick Cave x T.Lang performance collaboration, marking the opening of Ponce City Market. That project initiated me in such a fun and profound way to the art coming out of Atlanta and the visionary leadership of Black artists here. It was also the first time I was getting paid well as a dance artist. So I was like, Ok YES, I’m into this city. This is nutritive ground right here.

These days my performance projects are grappling with identity. I’m thinking about race and gender, power and vulnerability, conflict and joy. I’m curious about the messy, confusing and wondrous ways these themes intersect and diverge in each of us. As a mover, everything is about the body for me. The body is a political site. So anything I create that involves bodies is encoded with this extra meaning we are all carrying around. It’s my favorite thing to think about.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, challenges always. I’ll say a big one has been learning how to be my own cheerleader, and stop waiting for anyone else to validate me or my work. I’ve exhausted myself along the way yearning for somebody else to hand me some scooby snacks and gold stars, instead of just getting about my work. And when I’m coming from that place I’m not being a safe steward of my creative voice.

It’s a patient, unending practice to keep coming home to what I’m authentically curious about, and not slipping into a knee-jerk compulsion to make what I think will be the cool thing. I’m learning to trust this curiosity, especially when it feels risky, maybe lame, and maybe like I won’t have friends after I try this idea.

Please tell us about Artist, self-employed.
I create experiences for people. This has mostly looked like making dances and producing art events where folks come to witness and share live art together. This also looks like the work I do with children and adults at the High Museum, where I offer innovative art tours to encourage looking at art in new and meaningful ways.

I think of myself as a facilitator, wherein often highly collaborative fashion, I’m building worlds for people to enter and exist for a brief moment, to notice something new about themselves and others. I’m looking for alchemy in the multidisciplinary projects I engage in, and I’m looking to push back against business as usual- how can I be a conduit for some special transformation to occur within this time and space, with these humans? What are we shifting or healing or bringing into focus together?

Contact Info:

• Website: melissaword.com
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Anton Molla, Jonathan Bouknight, and Kelly Blackmon

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