​Ajani Brannum (they/them) is a former concert dancer working between performance, writing, audio/video, pedagogy, and divination. Their practice salvages psychic material from the various histories they embody as a black, queer maker with Southern roots. Through an ongoing process of learning-in-public, they improvise a repertoire of movements toward liberation - honoring and extending the ancestral wisdom that animates their work.

 

Ajani has presented work at REDCAT, ODC, Human Resources Los Angeles, Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles Performance Practice, in classrooms, on tabletops and screens, and when no one is looking. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, they hold an AB in English and a Certificate in Dance from Princeton University, and a PhD in Culture and Performance from UCLA. They are also an alum of the Cecilia Weston Spiritual Academy, helmed by Jade T. Perry.