Singer,songwriter, actor and playwright, Kai Mwaafrika, began performing at an early age. Innately drawn to the world of the arts, the Indianapolis native performed her first staged production at the age of six in the play “Jim Flyin’ High,” by the local and national award winning poet/playwright Mari Evans. From that time on, Kai has continued to use her artistic ability as a vehicle of creative expression and as a means to create the world in which she exists.Kai studied acting, African dan...
Singer,songwriter, actor and playwright, Kai Mwaafrika, began performing at an early age. Innately drawn to the world of the arts, the Indianapolis native performed her first staged production at the age of six in the play “Jim Flyin’ High,” by the local and national award winning poet/playwright Mari Evans. From that time on, Kai has continued to use her artistic ability as a vehicle of creative expression and as a means to create the world in which she exists.Kai studied acting, African dance and voice throughout her primary and secondary education. She completed her undergraduate work and earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Clark-Atlanta University in Georgia. There, she studied under the Atlanta-based actor of note, the late Carol Mitchell-Leon (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Idlewild) and the late Whitman Mayo who is most notably credited for his role as "Grady" in the 1970s TV series, “Sanford and Son.” She went on to do her graduate work at Roosevelt University’s Theatre Conservatory in Chicago, earning her MA in Theatre Performance. At Roosevelt, Kai appeared in "Camino Real" which was directed by Henry Gondinez, "That Which is Me," which was conceived and directed by Ron O.J. Parsons, and "Savage Love," which was directed by Dawn Arnold and Eric White. During her eight year formal educational tenure, Kai also worked to enhance her vocal ability and her writing skills. She studied voice and movement using the Laban Technique and participated in a variety of poetry/playwriting/creative writing workshops and courses led by educators in the field and professional writers such as Pearl Cleage, Orlando Menes, Alicia Ostriker, and Frank Rogaczewski. Kai also served as an editor for Roosevelt University’s Literary Journal, Oyez Review. She has also written and has had produced her children’s play, “Lucy and the Letters,” and her one-act drama, “War Invisible,” which was featured as a part of the National Black Arts Festival in conjunction with Push Push theatre and the New Jomandi in 2005.Kai has starred/co-starred in the musicals “Crowns,” and “Further Mo,” at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis. She also performed as a recorded vocalist for the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s play, “Gem of the Ocean.” Other notable non-musical credits include Lisa Krohn’s “Well,” and “An Adult Evening with Shel Silverstein,” which was part of the Indianapolis Fringe Festival in 2006. Still intrinsically connected to her theatre background, Kai is forging ahead as a solo recording artist and songwriter equipped with the ability to create and sing a song that moves the body, soul, and mind with a style that's all her own. In April of 2008, she recorded her first track, "Single Black Mamma." Since then, Kai’s music has been selected to stream on several online radio stations including AMPS Magazine’s online station, USA4Real, and KRS-ONE'S Temple of Hip-Hop on Shadesradio.com. She has performed in a variety of venues in the Midwest as a background and a featured artist and was selected as a "breaking new artist" for Urb Magazine's Next 1000 talent search for her single, “Come What May" and for KRS-ONE's Temple of Hip-Hop for her song "Telepathy(itzgonbon) ft. Bleu. Her first solo project “Between Awake and a Dream” is released. "Come What May" available on itunes,amazon,and myspace music. peace
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