Destiny Polk

Warrior and Healer. Tender and unbreakable. Destiny "Divine" Polk, whose name means "That which has been firmly established, God has answered, Dance", is a an afro-indigenous, choreographer and producer, multi-disciplinary artist, community organizer/space holder, art-educator and founder of art-activist platform Radical Black Girl. Destiny’s work is concerned about speaking truth to a country that attempts to rewrite its own history while having actively tried to suppress African and Native American history and culture. She is also deeply passionate about advocating for marginalized groups of people, especially low-income communities of color, womxn of color and young self identifying black girls. She recently worked at The American Repertory Theater as the Community Programs Assistant, on shows such as "The White Card" by Claudia Rankine.

Her interactive performances are well received by her community. RESIST(D)ANCE, her original three part performance was, premiered at the OBERON Theater in November 2017 and again in July 2018. Her interactive performance “Black Woman Is God” premiered in Boston in April 2018 at Black Market Dudley, presenting 20 Black Women Artists and attracting over 200 community members in attendance. Her most recent choreography work was presented at Imagining America, a national conference in Chicago on decareration and liberatory practices. Destiny’s performances and dance films often combine her poetry and choreography to tell stories crafted with the intention to heal, based in discovery, for internal and collective processing of emotions, trauma and memory.

She has presented workshops at Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Public Health, Tufts University and Brandeis University. In addition to leading art and healing workshops, Destiny is an invited speaker on panels for social and global impact in art and moderates community conversations and town hall meetings.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]