THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tai Words: Living God’s word through art

by Pamela Gates

 

“Invest in your creativity,” a high school teacher told Milwaukee native Tai Words as she was going about the painful yet exhilarating task of applying to colleges during her senior year in high school.

 

Words said that advice from a teacher she’d worked with only briefly while a young teen on a dance squad and had never had as a teacher, set her course for the next four years and probably for the rest of her life. “It was a prophetic word,” she said, “one that clicks inside you.”

 

Words, who graduated with a degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December, began her brief but already impressively creative career very young.

 

“I’ve always had a gift for choreography and improvisation,” she said. “I’ve taught dance since I was 12, though I’d had no training. I worked with the liturgical dancers at my church. I didn’t realize how important this work was.”

 

Words applied to five different schools and was planning a career in occupational therapy before that teacher spoke to her about creativity. She decided to major in dance instead. Because two good friends were headed for UW-Madison and her first college choices hadn’t worked out financially, Words decided to go there, too.

“I was ready to go somewhere,” she said. “My parents weren’t happy with my choice of major. But I know now I was called to do this.”

 

Race had really never been an issue for Words in her previous schools. Her high school was mostly Black, but she’d gone to the French Immersion Elementary School and was thus used to dealing with Whites in a school setting. But the ratio at UW-Madison was a different experience.

 

As an incoming freshman, she said, “we were supposed to attend the SOAR program. They had us break into small groups and talk about our fears. We were supposed to attend with our parents, but mine couldn’t come that day, so I was there by myself. There were 400-plus new students, two of whom were African American girls. That was one of the worst experiences of my life!”

 

Words found the campus “humungous,” and because the dance major was rather isolated from other campus programs, advisers didn’t know what classes to put her in. She often got into classes she didn’t have sufficient background for, at least in comparison with the other students, and was often asked, “Why are you here?” by staff members.

 

“I cried every day of my freshman year,” she said. Fortunately, her best friend from Milwaukee, Rosemary, the only other person of color in the dance program, was there, and the two of them “cried and practiced together.”

 

Another source of support for Words in the UW dance program was a fellow student she referred to as Sara: “She tutored me everywhere in dance. If we hadn’t stuck together, I wouldn’t have made it.”

 

A month or two into Words’ first semester, she was invited back to her parish church in Milwaukee, St. Martin de Porres, to dance for a revival. Afterward, her mother said, “I understand now why you want to major in dance. I think you should, too.”

 

It meant a lot to have her mother’s approval, but, Words said about herself, “I don’t let anyone hold me back.”

 

The most powerful force in Words’ life is God. She made a commitment to God her senior year in high school, just before the high school teacher spoke those prophetic words to her. That force of love carries her through life’s ups and downs and, when combined with her unique experiences and her underlying character, enhances her strength, determination, and wisdom to an amazing degree.

 

“I’ve had my own business for two years,” Words said. “I’ve run a seven-week dance camp for two summers in Milwaukee for ages 3 up. It was supposed to be only for children, but then the parents came to me, saying they wanted to lose weight. Some of them lost 15 pounds in my class.

 

“I was president, accountant, instructor, costume designer, and creator — everything. That was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. I plan to open up a Christian dance school, a dance ministry, eventually. I’m waiting on where and when: He’ll tell me. At the moment I’m an assistant instructor at Storybook Ballet at Hilldale Mall.”

 

Words also directs the St. James Catholic Church Gospel and Praise Choir, a group that has been singing once a month at one of the weekend masses for about two years. Currently, all the members are old enough to be Words’ parents, but that   doesn’t cramp her style at all.

 

“When I was 13 and 14, I directed the adult choir at my church for a year and a half,” she said. “I had vowed that I’d never do that again. But when my mom called and told me St. James needed a director for a new praise choir, I prayed about it; and God said 'yes,' so I said 'yes,' too. At that time, my whole life was ministry: I was also assisting with the UW Gospel Choir.

 

“I was nervous at that first rehearsal, not really knowing what to expect. But I’m not afraid to be myself. To get respect, one must expect it.”

 

During her entire career at UW, Words said, she held four part-time jobs and went to school full-time. “It was crazy; one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done,” she said. “I was getting only three or four hours of sleep a night. I thank God for giving me the strength to do it, and that I didn’t get sick. It was a good learning experience, though. I get in trouble sometimes because I don’t want to ask for help.

 

“My experience at the UW humbled me. I was kind of sad when I graduated and it was over, but because I had exams after I graduated, I never really had the chance to appreciate my graduation.

 

"I had to fight to grow up," Words, who just turned 23,  said, looking back on her earlier years. "I was raped, had a miscarriage, and lived through two abusive relationships. It took me eight years to tell my parents what had happened; it was God who finally told me to tell them.

 

"It was also God who told me to do a dance piece about the rape and to incorporate poetry into it. The poem was harshly real. After I finished my performance of it, there was a long pause. The audience could not sit there and be comfortable. I got my deliverance through that piece.

 

"There were so many different responses to it. 'I can now move forward,' some said. 'I'm taking to court for what he did to me as a child,' another said. Everyone knew exactly what that piece was about.

 

"My last choreographed piece was 'The End of the Beginning,' about my experience in the UW Dance Program. I almost quit [in] my sophomore year, due to racial prejudices, problems with teachers, and an injury. 'The End of the Beginning' wasn't supposed to be funny, but it sort of came out that way. I hope it will be an inspiration to at least one other person of color.

 

"We don't realize how what we do may affect someone else. Our lives are not about us as individuals. My dance ministry is not about me. I'm glad to share parts of me that may help someone else.

 

The summer before her senior year in high school, a dear friend of Words' was murdered. Words found this very difficult to deal with: She suffered from nightmares, fear, and even  paranoia. She thanks God, she says, that He has come into her life.

 

"We pass up opportunities all the time to get delivered and set free," Words said. "My sister made the decision [to commit herself to God] just before I did. I didn't even read the Bible at the time. I didn't need to be saved; sure, I believed in God, but  that was about it. Then, finally, I made the decision. And God is good. Just sitting here talking about Him makes me happy.   

 

"One learns to appreciate life after getting past problems," Words says. "People tell me, 'You're so strong.' But I once tried to commit suicide.

 

"Having a close relationship with God is heaven in itself; it's so awesome to feel God's presence. God wants you to talk to Him real. He understands.

 

"I want everyone to experience the relationship with God that I have. I credit God with helping me make wise decisions. We tend to put God in a box, which we're not supposed to do. I thank God for the opportunity to know him as father, as friend, etc."

 

"Ministry is about people. You've got to love those you're ministering to. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

 

"I'm still trying to find my way,” Word says. “I'll just keep doing what I'm doing until God tells me otherwise. I'm definitely not going back to Milwaukee."

 

What about that wisdom people have been noting in her all her life? "It's God-given through experience," Words said, "from the path He's allowed my life to go. I thank God for those experiences."