Regional Arts Commission Performance Venue

This location features dance, fashion, and spoken word produced by the Loop in Motion Festival with support from the Regional Arts Commission and the University City Loop Community Foundation.

Venue Location:
At 6128 Delmar Blvd, first floor of the Regional Arts Commission building that will include the gallery, performance studio and reception area.

Radhiya's Middle Eastern & North African Dance, Inc. is a performing group that performs various forms of Middle Eastern & North African dance styles. We are also known as "Nayliyat" dancers, which means "Children of Him Who Has Succeeded". Radhiya Taj currently teaches at local YMCA's & St. Anthony's.

Come and experience the excitement of it all. It does not matter what age, shape or size that you are ... this exercise is total fitness for the mind, body and soul of a women !

Kill Fashion Collective

Kill Fashion Collectives designers Miriam Coffey & Emi Hemeyer will present the MODA MODA designer showcase, speak about their work and put on a short fashion show. The Kill Fashion Collective is a coalition of cutting-edge designers whose work shares a commanality in its innovation by ripping apart current fashion constructs in presentation and construction. For more information: www.myspace.com/killfashioncollective.

Miriam Coffey is a St. Louis native. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. After she moved back to St. Louis, she expanded her self-titled clothing line. In her work she enjoys experimenting with different color combinations, textures, and shapes. She does her part on expanding peoples views on what is fashion and what is art; and what is or should there be the difference between them.

Emi Hemeyer: URCHIN. readymade designs.

Mama Blue

Mama Blue (aka: Zaire Imani) has been a powerful feminine force that has riveted audiences nationwide for the past 7 years. To her credit Zaire has been the St. Louis Grand SLAM champion and a St. Louis SLAM team member for the past 6 consecutive years. She opened up to a packed house for Ursula Rucker at Blueberry Hill in 2000, ranked 6th in the nation at the 2001 National Poetry SLAM in Seattle and opened for The Roots during the OK Player Tour. Zaire has also opened for spoken word/hip hop artists Gil Scott-Herron and Bahamadia.

Zaire's stage name, Mama Blue, is a personification of her urban folk artist lifestyle, which includes being a profession childbirth assistant, or Doula, and displaying her multimedia artwork throughout the region at 7 different galleries. Her strong connection to the earth is demonstrated in her visual art through her use of vibrant tones and raw, organic imagery.

Her autobiographically inspired paintings often depict woman as mother, healer, goddess, sorceress and seductress. The MAMA BLUE series of oil/pastel paintings was birthed into existence in fall, 1995 and is an ever-growing entity. As of January, 2001, the series contains 13 paintings. As in her spoken word, Mama Blue's artwork conveys images of empowerment through ritual, struggle and growth. Mama Blue's strong words and paintings can be combined as a multimedia showcase. The art exhibit and performance compliment one another and create a body of work that tells a story of the urban-rebel-goddess, new millenium bush-woman who is Mama Blue. Currently, Mama Blue is performing in open mics throughout St. Louis and at the St. Louis Poetry SLAM. She conducts SLAM Poetry Workshops for area youth in high schools and middle schools through the St. Louis non-profit organization: WORD In Motion. She has future plans on producing Pomegranate and Goddess Girls, two workshops dealing with female empowerment through self-knowledge and the arts. Most importantly, Mama Blue is the loving and skilled mother of 7 children.

Parking is available on municipal lots, in the garage across from the Tivoli Theatre, and on Delmar and the side streets. Loop in Motion will take place in the Loop along Delmar Boulevard in University City and the City of St. Louis. For more information, call (314) 727-8000 or email loopadm@ucityloop.com.

Click below for information on the events scheduled at the 2007 festival:

2007 Loop In Motion Festival HOME

2007 Loop in Motion Art Walk

2007 Performance Stage at the Market in The Loop (Friday)

2007 Performance Venue at Regional Arts Commission (Friday)

2007 Performance Stage at Leland (Saturday)

2007 Performance Stage at the Market in The Loop (Saturday)