معرفی
Professor JaMario Stills serves in Amherst College's Department of Theater and Dance, teaching courses including Performance Perspectives: What is Acting? (THDA 130), Dramatic Diversities (THDA 230), and Generative Studio (THDA 320). Holding an M.F.A. in directing from Brown University/Trinity Rep and a B.F.A. in acting from The Juilliard School, he brings extensive performance training to his academic practice.
His creative research explores Southern Black American narratives through a futurist lens, examining their global resonances within the Afro-diasporic community. Stills' multidisciplinary approach integrates directing, acting, writing, movement, audio-visual media, MC'ing, and DJ'ing to create liberatory world-building frameworks. His directorial work functions as interventionist art practice, challenging Eurocentric ideologies and reclaiming narrative agency for Black voices.
Notable creative works include 2216: The Remix of a Global Experiment, described as a "Live Action Essay" interrogating identity performativity, and Soul Tapes, a Black speculative theater piece excavating memory, technology, and futurity. His teaching centers contemporary Black, femme, queer, and BIPOC artists while developing students' skills in dramaturgy, improvisation, and ensemble building.
- Brown Arts Initiative (2025)
- The Center for the Less Good Idea (2024)
- National Black Theater (2023)
- The Mercury Store (2023)
- The Benny Sato Ambush Legacy Award (2023)
- Williamstown Theater Festival (2020)
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL (2019)
As an active practitioner-scholar, Stills bridges academic theory with performance practice, drawing inspiration from Zora Neale Hurston's ethnographic archives and southern folktales. His work emphasizes audience engagement, authentic connection, and the dynamic interplay between live performance, text, and multidisciplinary scenographies to push boundaries of real-time interaction.
