Kharyshi Wiginton

Special Project Manager, Center for Third World Organizing

About this speaker

Kharyshi Wiginton is a dancer at heart, but an artist in nature. She has a BA in theatre arts/dance from Cal State San Bernardino and an MFA in Creative Inquiry from California Institute of Integral Studies. Kharyshi’s an interdisciplinary artist that has worked on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, For Colored Girls, Pippin, and Godspell.

She was Artistic Director for Equal Opportunity Productions, and in 2003 she took 12 youth and 7 mentors to South Africa for the cultural exchange project SOZE II. In 2005, she went back to South Africa as a member of Colors of the Diaspora where she participated in an adult cultural exchange project and presented a show in the 2005 National Arts Festival in South Africa.

In 2008, Kharyshi established P.R.I.S.M. Dance Company. In 2012, she was part of the Black Choreographer’s Festival AMP program where she was commissioned to produce a 15-minute dance piece. In 2012, she traveled back to South Africa for Colors of the Diaspora II performing at the historic Market Theater Lab in Johannesburg. She’s a powerful artist with intense goals, and her personal identity and life experiences continue to fuel her creative process.

In 2009, Kharyshi received her MFA in Creative Inquiry from the California Institute of Integral Studies. For her final project, she created a one-woman show entitled "Too Much Woman For This World," and later spent several years honing that work under the tutelage of Master Teacher Ayodele Nzinga. Kharyshi has performed her solo show in 2018's Ubuntu Festival, in 2019's BAMBD Festival, in 2019's Iya Iya's House of Burning Souls, and in 2018's Vavasati International Women's Festival where she performed at the State Theater in South Africa. This is probably her biggest accomplishment to date!

More than anything, her art seeks to effect change. It tells stories of those rarely mentioned, empowers the broken-spirited, gives voice to those who cannot speak, and tackles difficult issues such as self-esteem, body image, and sizeism. Kharyshi is a fierce dancer, writer, spoken word artist, and hopes to one day become a dynamic, world-renowned choreographer.

Sessions

Spiritual Power: The Role of Spirit in Our Liberation

19 July 2024, 05:00 PM
Jenn Johns Sagnithe Salazar Rashidah Tutashinda Baba Todd Sangoma Ngonyama Kharyshi Wiginton Holiday Simmons Iya Sangoyemi

Opening Plenary: Ableism and Intersectionality

16 August 2024, 05:00 PM
Jocelyn Ricarda Jordan Underwood Keri Gray Kharyshi Wiginton Monserrat Ramirez Rashidah Tutashinda Maya Corneille

Breakout Session | R - Rights

16 August 2024, 06:55 PM
Kharyshi Wiginton

Closing Plenary: What We Know Now

16 August 2024, 08:25 PM
Anique Gichanga Nikita Mitchell Rashidah Tutashinda Kharyshi Wiginton Mariama Eversley

Bonus Session: More Than Fat

16 August 2024, 11:00 PM
Brena Jean Kharyshi Wiginton

Creating New Movements, A World Centering Gender Equity

27 September 2024, 05:00 PM
Nikita Mitchell Jack Qu’emi Gutiérrez Raana Simmons Kharyshi Wiginton Mariama Eversley Wendi Williams Falilah Aisha Bilal