Bronx-based creative Kayla Hamilton has launched a new cultural organization called Circle O , which provides performances featuring Black disabled bodies, as well education and consulting for organizations looking to become more inclusive. As a Black sight-impaired artist, “My love for dance is what drives me,” Hamilton told the Bronx Times. Born and raised in Texarkana, Texas, Hamilton also has family roots in the Arkansas farmland.
Her grandfather Oscar, a principal of an all-Black school, was known as “Big O” and father Gene was known as “Little O.” The family farm became known as “Circle O,” the name Hamilton later adopted for her nonprofit. Growing up, her parents wanted her to be involved in a structured physical activity, but sports didn’t seem practical with her vision impairment.
So Hamilton turned to dance, starting in ballet, tap and jazz. She took to dance immediately — perhaps because it was in her blood. Her uncle had been a Broadway tap dancer and singer, and she aspired to be like him.
From the start, Hamilton was driven to succeed in the competitive field of dance — and make it her own. “No one’s gonna deny me of the things I love to do,” she said. ‘A feeling of home’ Over the years, Hamilton studied more types of dance, including modern and West African traditional dance, which she considers a favorite.
She left Texas after college to intern at Dance Place in Washington D.C., then moved to New York in 2008.
After living in every borough, Hamilton landed in the Bronx around 2013. “The Bronx stuck, and I haven’t left since,” she said. In her home neighborhood of Mott Haven, Hamilton finds plenty of inspiration.
“It’s the people for me,” she said, noting the “energy and vibe” of the borough, as well as its friendly and down-to-earth people. “In the Bronx is where I found more community” and “a feeling of home,” she said. Hamilton worked as a middle school special education teacher in Highbridge for 12 years, dancing professionally on the side.
Over the years, she racked up numerous honors, fellowships and awards, and her performances have been featured at the Whitney Museum and Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, among other prominent arts institutions. She was also recently named a 2024 Ford Foundation Disability Futures Fellow, the only dance artist selected for the honor. But before establishing Circle O, she was juggling three different roles as teacher, consultant and performer.
The organization became a way to bring those worlds together. All three of Hamilton’s specialties represent different ways of pursuing the goals of inclusivity and creativity among Black disabled people. Circle O was a way for Hamilton’s work to “be beyond myself,” she said.
The organization, which “reimagines a dance world where Black disabled and other multiply marginalized creatives are central, and every body is worthy of care,” has the support of prominent arts organizations including the Mellon Foundation, Bronx Council on the Arts and the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Hamilton and her staff at Circle O do professional development for educators working with disabled students, make connections between artists and train organizations looking to improve their accessibility efforts. Hamilton also specializes in courses in audio description for sight-impaired audiences.
Working with other institutions, Circle O aims to bring them into relationship, not just check off a diversity requirement. Each group must examine “what is it really for?” said Hamilton. The cast of “How to Bend Down/ How to Pick it Up” poses for a group photo.
Some performers stand and some sit or kneel on the studio floor. It is a joyful moment: everyone is smiling, gesturing, or making a fun face. Photo Maria Baranova for Kayla Hamilton/Circle O “A beautiful group’ These days, Hamilton spends much of her time in rehearsals for her upcoming performance titled “How To Bend Down/How To Pick It Up,” showing in August at The Shed’s Griffin Theater in Manhattan.
She called the multidisciplinary show “an invitation to play and curiosity” because it can change from day to day depending on the inspiration and needs of performers’ bodies. It’s a high level of creativity that Hamilton called both “risky and exciting.” “I know what the container is, but I don’t know how the container’s going to reveal itself,” she said.
The show involves 11 performers — some of whom are deaf — along with three American Sign Language interpreters and captioners. Hamilton said in casting the show, she had no requirements or specific training in mind, focusing only on “the body and curiosity.” The result is a “beautiful group,” she said.
Tickets for “How To Bend Down/How To Pick It Up” are free with reservation. The show will run Aug. 15-17.
Reach Emily Swanson at [email protected] or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes.
