Kimberly Dark LiveKimberly brings decades of experience as a facilitator, performer/storyteller, and teacher entertaining people with complex yet accessible messages about the human experience, about the body in culture, and about the ways we co-create our culture. This experience means that her themes are available in a variety of ways for different venues, events and purposes.
Kimberly's performances, workshops, and lectures engage with themes that include: Gender :: Sexuality :: Body size/Shame :: Media Representations Gender, Race and Wealth/Income :: Understanding "the 1%" Beauty and Appearance Privilege :: Personal Sovereignty By looking at the complexity in our lives, Kimberly teaches her audiences how to become the subject of their own stories, and how to co-create a better world. Tell us about your requirements, and Kimberly can tailor the right stage-performance, keynote presentation, and/or workshop for your venue and time-frame. |
Performances on Tour:
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Popular Workshops:
Minding the Artist's Business
Theatre Departments, Performance Studies Departments and community venues all benefit from this workshop and discussion that illuminates the the specifics of marketing performance work. The world needs more art and the mystery surrounding celebrity and making a living as an artist are not helpful! Kimberly uses a variety of websites and print materials to discuss arts marketing and touring and how performance artists in different disciplines fund their work. |
Conflict Resolution
Maybe your boss just quoted an alt-right blogger in a meeting. Maybe your partner didn't do the laundry like they promised they would. Conflict resolution tools are for everyone - educators, managers, case workers, etc. - who wants to understand and better handle conflict. Learn how to reframe contentious, position-based statements into neutral language that helps everyone think more clearly and develop possible solutions. |
Observation and Perception: Tools for Creation
This workshop will benefit anyone with a creative practice - whether it's writing, dancing, painting, or just being present in your community. The workshop will also prompt a more conscious experience of social life. You will practice techniques that help build community, assist in personal and community refocusing, and remind us just how powerfully we are creating the world, even as it creates us. |
Being a Brilliant Bystander
Have a positive influence on the way things are done in a meeting or group even if you are not the 'official' facilitator. By learning the skills of the "brilliant bystander," you can re-route conflict into useful discussion, restore fairness in power struggles, and encourage others to participate. Explore the reasons people stay silent, even though they know someone needs to speak up... and how to help. |
Meeting Facilitation
A good facilitator makes it easier for a group to achieve its highest aims. And ironically, when a facilitator is highly skilled, the group hardly even knows it's been helped. This workshop is perfect for anyone who is in a position to "run a meeting," who participates in public meetings, or who is helping a group work methodically toward a long-term goal. From this workshop, participants will gain the tools to use meeting time efficiently, to minimize conflict and still handle difficult issues, and to bring out hidden talent, skills, and creativity. |
Writing for Performance/Performance Poetry
During this course, individuals will learn about various forms of writing for performance, including the popular genre of slam poetry. Participants will write AND perform during the workshop; the focus in on writing for listeners, rather than readers. Throughout the day, participants will do "writing practice" on various themes that will yield material for a final brief performance in the afternoon. Participants will learn about the elements of performance story-telling (primarily rhythm, movement, repetition and story-progression). Through fun activities and a supportive setting, even those who have never read their writing aloud will have a positive experience. (Maximum: 20 participants) |
Games for Social Creators
Any time a topic feels like a chore, or individuals fear having difficult feelings - there's an opportunity for innovation. Most times, we just don't know how to transform work into play, fear into opportunity. In this workshop, Kimberly facilitates games and discusses how we think about groups, innovation, and creating positive, inclusive culture. Depending on the number of participants in the group, games can draw from theatres, writing, organizational and community development, etc. The focus is on meaningful fun - and on preparing participants to take these games and strategies into their own social settings. Reconnecting with the voice, language and the body helps participants rediscover the pleasure of working together. Laughter and connection stimulate our brilliance. Everyone feels comfortable participating. (This is not a team-building nightmare!) |
Courage in Creative Writing: Exploring the First Person Narrative
Writing in the first person (using "I") can feel very vulnerable and self-revealing. This type of writing is sometimes called autobiography, memoir or autoethnography. This workshop explores the power of first person story-telling and participants will practice writing in the first person. Participants will learn the nuances of telling enough of the story - and knowing when to stop! Kimberly will also help participants understand how to use personal stories to write about broader themes. As she often says, "Every story is about me, but I am not the subject." Participants will leave the workshop with greater courage and skill at storytelling in the first person and will have started a few different stories for completion at home. |