Caliwynd
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Shemica Watkins-Johnson is a dancer, performer and teacher with extensive experience in traditional and contemporary dances of the African diaspora including Afro-Haitian, Hip hop, Gineue and Dancehall. Born in Nuremberg, Germany and raised in Oakland, California,
Shemica comes from a family of dancers, including her parents who were international performers and competitive dancers. Dancing under the tutelage of Linda Johnson since age five and training at Laney College, Malonga Center for the Arts, and with various teachers and studios in Oakland and across the Bay Area, Watkins-Johnson has emerged as one of the Bay Area’s most versatile and captivating dancers.
Her performance experience includes appearances in John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” video (2010) and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival (2012) with Rara Tou Limen, a Bay-Area based Afro-Haitian group directed by Portsha Jefferson. She has choreographed and directed dance pieces for performances at Dance Mission Theater, Oakland’s Pan African Festival, East Side Arts Cultural Center, and many more. In 2013.
Shemica was crowned Monterey Bay Area Dancehall Queen in 2013, She then formed her very own Dance Style called Caliwynd with not only Influences in Afro-Haitian, Reggae Vybz Congolese, and Soca , she considers Caliwynd as a Huge Dancers pot Of Authentic Gumbo Goodness.
Her dance and teaching practice is rooted in the understanding that dance builds community by uniting people and unlocking their ability for uninhibited creative expression for healing and empowerment.