Works & Process: Ladies of Hip-Hop and The Black Dancing Bodies present "SpeakMyMind"
Company:
Works & Process
Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents the Underground Uptown Dance Festival, a festival of commissioned street and social dances taking place in the subterranean Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater at the Guggenheim from January 12-17, 2023. Rare in the field of dance, let alone in the creators' traditions, beyond presenting fee, all projects will have received longitudinal support. With some spanning four years, across multiple residencies Works & Process will have provided living wage fees, 24/7 devoted studio access, adjacent housing, access to health care insurance enrollment, performance fees, and iterative performance opportunities. Inspired by the circular architecture of the Guggenheim, the cyphers prevalent in street dance, and social environments where these performing art traditions were germinated, the works being presented weave audiences and artists together. These commissions endeavor to amplify the innate qualities of dance to physically connect and facilitate the embodiment of joy and community. General ticketing starts December 13 at worksandprocess.org.
IN-PROCESS CHOREOPOEM
Ladies of Hip-Hop
The Black Dancing Bodies - SpeakMyMind
Saturday, January 14, 7:30 pm
"Each woman's voice stands powerfully on its own." —Dance Enthusiast
Part of an ongoing performance and documentary effort to represent Black women in street and club dance culture, this session highlights the form of the choreopoem, first coined in 1975 by writer Ntozake Shange (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf). New writing, and music and dance of street, club and African culture come together in this in-process showing, led by Michele Byrd-McPhee, in which each member of the company responds to the question, "If I could speak my mind, what would I say?"
SpeakMyMind is commissioned by Works & Process and has been developed in Works & Process LaunchPAD residencies at Bethany Arts Community (2022 and 2023), Catskill Mountain Foundation (2022), and Millay Arts (2022). Iterative performances have taken place at the Guggenheim Museum, Jacob's Pillow, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
ABOUT WORKS & PROCESS
Championing the creative process from studio-to-stage, Works & Process, is an independent performing arts organization that supports artists from both the world's largest organizations and from underrecognized performing arts cultures by providing rare, sequenced and fully-funded creative residency, commissioning, and iterative presenting support. Blending artist discussions and performance highlights, each program provides unprecedented behind the scenes access to support our goal of broadening representation and fostering greater understanding and appreciation of the performing arts. Works & Process celebrates New York artists and street and social dance with programs at the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" partnerships with 12 residency centers across New York State amplify our support for artistic process. In the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater at the Guggenheim, see Works & Process street and social dance commissions supported with multi-year longitudinal residencies and iterative presentations.
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