Artist Spotlight: Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi – The Ancient Jazz Priestess
In our ongoing commitment to highlight voices that expand the boundaries of poetic expression, filmpoetry.org turns its focus to the extraordinary work of Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, a multidisciplinary artist whose poetry transcends conventional form and function.
The Multifaceted Artist
Referred to as “The Ancient Jazz Priestess of Mother Africa,” Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi stands as one of the most versatile and impactful voices in contemporary poetry and performance art. A Black transgender woman of Nigerian, Cuban, and Indigenous heritage, Edidi brings a profound intersectional perspective to her creative practice that challenges and transforms traditional notions of poetic expression.
Her extensive body of work spans multiple disciplines—she is an accomplished poet, playwright, novelist, performer, choreographer, and educator. This breadth of creative practice allows her poetry to exist not just on the page but in physical space, expanding what poetry can be and how it can move through the world.
Breaking Boundaries in Poetry and Performance
Edidi’s approach to poetry is fundamentally interdisciplinary. Her choreopoem “For Black Trans Girls Who Gotta Cuss A Motherfucker Out When Snatching an Edge Ain’t Enough” exemplifies her innovative fusion of poetic text with performance, movement, and song. This integration creates an immersive experience that honors the complex, multifaceted nature of transgender Black experiences.
Her most recent poetry collection, “The Politics of Tears” (2024), explores themes of war, identity, community, and liberation—asking readers to consider whose tears society deems worthy and what kind of future we collectively wish to create.
Cultural Impact and Recognition
As the first Black transgender woman nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, Edidi has broken significant ground in the arts. Her work has received numerous accolades, including the Emerging Leader Award for her activism within the Washington, D.C. transgender community and the GLBT History Project’s Mujeres en el Movimiento Arts Award.
Perhaps most notably, Edidi co-edited “The Black Trans Prayer Book” with fellow poet J Mase III—a groundbreaking anthology exploring spirituality and healing from Black transgender perspectives. This collaborative work represents an important contribution to both literary and spiritual traditions.
The Intersection of Poetry and Social Change
Edidi’s work demonstrates the potential for poetry to function as a vehicle for social transformation. Her pieces often explicitly address systems of oppression while simultaneously creating spaces of possibility, healing, and joy. This dual purpose—critique and creation—reflects her belief in art’s capacity to imagine and manifest new realities.
In a 2018 interview with the Washington Blade, Edidi emphasized the importance of acknowledging transgender women of color in social movements, noting that “LGBTQ people owe every right they have to the work of trans women of color.”
Experiencing Edidi’s Work
The true power of Edidi’s poetry lies in its direct experience. Whether encountered on the page, in performance, or through collaborative projects like “The Black Trans Prayer Book,” her work invites readers and audiences into a space of contemplation and transformation.
For those interested in exploring her writing further, her published works include novels like “Yemaya’s Daughters” and poetry collections like “Remains: A Gathering of Bones” and “The Politics of Tears.”
