Amara Tabor-Smith is an Oakland-based choreographer and performance maker who describes her work as Afrofuturist Conjure Art. Tabor-Smith's creative process as a dance maker is rooted in collaboration, spiritual ritual and questions of identity and belonging. Her movement vocabulary is inspired by improvisation, Butoh, and African Diaspora dance traditions. She is the Artistic Director of Deep Waters Dance Theater, which she founded in 2006 with the goal of inspiring dialogue. The ensemble focuses on social and environmental justice issues, race, gender, cultural identity and spirituality. Her work has been presented in venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, nationally and internationally. Tabor-Smith is an artist-in-residence at Stanford University, 2020 recipient of the Hewlett 50 grant with East Side Arts Alliance, 2019 Dance/USA Fellow, 2018 United States Artists Fellow, and a 2018 recipient of KQED’s “Bay Brilliant” award. She was honored on the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 list.