Inside The Dancer's Studio

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Chicago Illinois-based, The Era Footwork Crew members Sterling “Steelo” Lofton and Brandon “Chief Manny” Calhoun. The Era Footwork Crew are pioneers of the battle dance known as Chicago footwork. They have performed from Japan to Peru, performing and choreographing alongside leading artists such as Chance the Rapper, DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, and Theaster Gates. The Eras work has been in short documentaries by VICE, the Canadian Broadcast Company, and the Chicago Tribune.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Phoenix, Arizona-based artist and activist Ruby Morales. Morales describes her work as that of a ‘dance artivist,' where she investigates culturally informed teaching methods, circular leadership models, and her relationship with movement as a bgirl and in Mexican style cumbia. She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, most recently, she was honored by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals with the Spark of Change Award.

This special edition of Inside The Dancer's Studio podcast features content from the Creative Administration Research (CAR) Summit Convening and was recorded at the Akron Art Museum. CAR is made possible through a multi-year grant from the Mellon Foundation. We join Christy Bolingbroke, our Executive / Artistic Director, in dialogue with Chicago, IL-based multidisciplinary, Kenyan-Indian, Canadian-American artist Brendan Fernandes and Akron Art Museum Curator Dr. Jeff Katzin. The trio foreground their conversation titled, “Against All Odds: Moving In Museums,” with visual artist, Keith Haring's work, which was on exhibit at the time. Using this common ground, they explore how visual artists and choreographers are dancing in and around museum spaces today. http://www.brendanfernandes.ca/https://akronartmuseum.org/https://akronartmuseum.org/media/exhibition/keith-haring-against-all-odds/https://www.nccakron.org/creativeadminresearch

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Brooklyn, New York-based interdisciplinary artist and the artistic director of Renegade Performance Group, André M. Zachery. Zachery is a 2016 New York Foundation for the Arts Gregory Millard Fellow in Choreography and a 2019 Jerome Hill Foundation Fellow in Choreography. As a scholar, he speaks and writes on many topics including Afrofuturism, African Diaspora practices and philosophies, Black cultural aesthetics, technology in art and performance, and expanding the boundaries of art making within the community.http://renegadepg.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with two members of the Saint Paul Minnesota-based company BRKFST Dance Company. Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman is the founder and Artistic Director of BRKFST and Joseph "MN Joe" Tran is a founding member of BRKFST and a member of Knuckleheads Cali breaking crew. BRKFST's egalitarian and virtuosic choreographic collaboration is deeply rooted in the Hip Hop adage, "Each One Teach One": regardless of class, race, experience, age or gender, everyone remains both teacher and student. http://brkfstdance.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Cleveland, OH-based artist Errin Weaver. Weaver is a choreographer and the Executive Artistic Director of Mojuba! Dance Collective and has created the Emerging Black Choreographers Incubator. Mojuba! Dance Collective (MDC) is an African contemporary dance company and platform dedicated to exploring spiritual and cultural dance traditions of the African Diaspora to restore community wellness, share and validate the Black narrative experience, and reestablish cultural connection. 

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Pittsburgh, PA-based artists, taylor knight & anna thompson who are co-founding artistic directors of slowdanger. Through the process of making each piece, they work with a heightened understanding of energy, synergy, action, gender, time, and storytelling. slowdanger's work has been presented in the US and Canada by venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Springboard Danse Montreal, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Place Des Arts, among others. http://slowdangerslowdanger.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with with Philadelphia-based dancer, choreographer, musician, photographer, and writer, Raphael Xavier. Xavier's extensive research in Hip Hop forms and culture, specifically Breaking, has led to the creation of Ground-Core, a Somatic dance technique. Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, Xavier is a 2013 Pew Fellowship Grantee and 2016 Guggenheim Fellow, and Princeton University professor.https://www.raphaelxavier.org/

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with three award-winning New York City based choreographers: Tendayi Kuumba, Annie-B Parson, and Donna Uchizono who were in Akron collaborating on a new work.Tendayi Kuumba: whostendayi.comDonna Uchizono: donnauchizono.orgAnnie-B Parson: bigdancetheater.org

Today we are excited to share an except of the closing plenary facilitated by Ontario, California based arts administrator and professor, Elena Marie Muslar. Elena is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Confide Creative, a coaching and consulting practice dedicated to the collective cultural and economic progress of pre-professionals and working professionals. She is also Associate Director of Programs at Fractured Atlas, a national nonprofit arts service organization that helps artists and creative businesses thrive and a Lecturer at Loyola Marymount University teaching “Introduction to Business in the Arts.” honored by L.A. County for her leadership in the arts & creative economy, commitment to cultural equity & inclusion, and dedication to community affairs & civic pride.Joining Elena in this Closing Plenary conversation, titled Money, Mindset, and Motivation: Where Artist Meets Enterprise are: New York City-based artist, Antuan Byers, Boston, MA - based artist Indira Goodwine, Durham, NC-based artist jumatatu m. poe, and Miami, FL-based artist Rosie Herrera. 

Today we are excited to share an except of the opening plenary titled, “Artist as Model for the New Socioeconomic Normal.” In this portion of session, Christy Bolingbroke, our Executive / Artistic Director is in conversation with Washington DC-based performer, poet, director, and arts administrator, Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Bamuthi is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. While engaging in a deeply fulfilling and successful artistic career, Bamuthi also proudly serves as Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He is in high demand for his creative approach to organizational design, brand development, and community mediation, and has been enlisted as a strategic partner or consultant for companies ranging from Coca Cola to Carnegie Hall. Bamuthi is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals which activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life.  

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with  Maui Hawaii-based choreographer Christopher K. Morgan. Christopher is the Executive Artistic Director of Christopher K Morgan & Artists as well as the Director of the Dance Residency Program at Art Omi. His choreography has been presented in 18 countries on 5 continents and has addressed issues including sexuality, gender identity, race, climate change, immigration and water conservation. Christopher recently joined the Maui Arts & Cultural Center to be Vice President of Programming through which he curates dozens of music, dance, and theater performances each year, oversees the Schaefer International Gallery, and a robust arts education program that serves thousands of Hawai'i youth, adults, and arts educators. Prior to joining the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Christopher served as Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Boulder, CO-based choreographer, performance artist and innovator, Helanius J. Wilkins, whose creative research and projects are rooted in the interconnections of American contemporary performance, cultural history, and identities of Black men. Wilkins founded and artistically directed EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, Washington, DC's first all-male contemporary dance company of predominately African-American men, that existed for thirteen years (2001 – 2014). To date, he has choreographed and directed over 60 works. Helanius is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Dance at the University of Colorado, Boulder. 

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York City-based performer and educator Courtney Lopes. Born and raised in Bermuda, Courtney trained at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts for high school and went on to receive her BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase. She now dances with Dance Heginbotham, MeenMoves, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, Kathryn Alter & Dancers, and Megan Williams Dance Projects and is a professor at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Courtney is also trained in Dance for PD, a specialized dance class series for people living with Parkinson's Disease, which she enjoys sharing with communities across the US and around the world. 

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Minneapolis-St. Paul-based performer and choreographer Ashwini Ramaswamy, who trained and performs in the lineage of Bharatanatyam. As a founding member of Ragamala Dance Company, she has toured extensively, throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, the U.K, and India, as well, she's performed in  well-know US venues like Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and  the Kennedy Center. Her own choreographic work has been presented by venues including The Joyce Theater and The Yard, and has found support through the National Dance Project and US Artists International. The New York Times describes Ashwini as “weaving together, both fearfully and joyfully, the human and the divine…”

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Seattle-based choreographer, director and educator Kate Wallich. Named one of Dance Magazine's “25 to Watch,” her work has been presented nationally and internationally by venues including On the Boards, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Walker Art Center, MASS MoCa, and The Joyce Theater. In 2010 she founded an all-abilities, community-focused class called Dance Church® which, during the pandemic, gained traction as an online streaming platform and received attention from Wired, Vanity Fair, and The LA Times.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Miami-based, Cuban-American dancer and choreographer Rosie Herrera. In addition to being the artistic director of Rosie Herrera Dance Theater, she is an independent director and creative consultant and a classically trained lyric coloratura soprano who performs with the Performers Music Institute Opera Ensemble. Rosie has been awarded choreographic fellowships by MANCC and Bates Dance Festival, among others and was awarded a Princess Grace Choreographic Fellowship for her work with Ballet Hispanico.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Twin Cities-based dancer, choreographer, and educator, Paula Mann. Mann moved to the Twin Cities in 1987, has created 50 new works, and is co-artistic director of TIME TRACK PRODUCTIONS with visual artist Steve Paul.  She has been a driving force in Contemporary Dance and Performance-based out of Minneapolis for the past 30 years; challenging, educating, and engaging artists, audiences, and communities with passion, inventiveness, and rigor. She was full-time faculty at the University of Minnesota Department of Theater and Dance from 1993-2013 and is a 2019 McKnight Choreographer Fellow. http://www.timetrackdance.org/about.htmlA recreation of New Dance by Doris Humphrey (with my teacher Linda Tarnay in the main role)https://youtu.be/EA4KmKnYRwMBill T Jones   https://youtu.be/o4DD3dgfvS0Donald McKayle's Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder    https://youtu.be/kXZ2ca066LoDaniel Nagrin's Strange Hero          https://youtu.be/rxWVYT3_CccRobert Wilson Einstein on the Beach    https://youtu.be/a8kgAkTS7oMSharon Wehner performs "32 Fouettes" from Swan Lake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIADfYGc9Vwhttps://www.artsmidwest.org/

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Guillaume Gabriel, cofounder of French company, Companie Hervé Koubi. The company's work was born from a mixture of techniques and influences, at the crossroads of urban dances and ballet and with the coming together of Koubi's French-Algerian and African family history. https://www.cie-koubi.fr

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York City-based dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and photographer, Kayla Farrish. Kayla is the founder and director of Kayla Farrish/Decent Structure Arts. Through which she shares her vision of intimate storytelling and makes work that delves into socio-political structures and the liberation of people. Her work has garnered residencies and film screenings across the country, as well as commissions by Gibney Dance and Danspace Project in New York. https://www.kaylafarrish.com/https://www.dance-enthusiast.com/features/social-distance-video-series/view/Kayla-Farrish-Armstrong-Now-Louis-Armstrong- 

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with San Francisco, CA-based performer, choreographer, and teacher, James Graham. James dances with Lisa Wymore & Sheldon Smith's Disappearing Acts, the Joe Goode Performance Group, and is the founder of James Graham Dance Theatre. This conversation was his second engagement with the Center, as he participated in the 2019 NCCAkron Dancing Lab: Dance as Cultural Diplomat, a multi-day symposium exploring the exchange between Israeli and American modern dance.http://jamesgrahamdancetheatre.comAlso referenced in this episode: https://lizlerman.com/hiking-the-horizontal/ 

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with San Francisco-based choreographer Nicole Klaymoon. Klaymoon is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Embodiment Project, whose recent work includes a piece titled “Ancient Children”, which explores the ways restorative justice can interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. This conversation was her second engagement at the Center, as she is an alumna of NCCAkron's Dancing Lab: Screendance that took place in July 2018.https://www.embodimentproject.org

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Brooklyn New York based choreographer, Brian Brooks. Brian's work has toured internationally since 2002 with presentations by BAM, the Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow, the American Dance Festival, and Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum, among others. He has developed and toured work with former New York City Ballet prima ballerina, Wendy Whelan, titled Restless Creature and appears in the film by the same name, with Whelan. https://www.bbrooks.org

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Champaign-Urbana, IL-based choreographer, Abby Zbikowski. Abby is the founder of the company Abby Z and the New Utility. She is a 2020 United States Artists Fellow and received the 2017 Juried Bessie Award for her work. She is also a professor of Dance at the University of Illinois and on faculty at American Dance Festival.Strange Tools by Alva Noe https://g.co/kgs/n9FdyjArtist Website:  www.abbyznewutility.orgSandi Scheuber: https://dance.osu.edu/people/hadley.4

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York City-based dancer, choreographer and educator Amy Miller. A former member of the Ohio Ballet, and founding member and artistic associate of Cleveland-based GroundWorks DanceTheater, she is now a Gibney Company Director and a performing member of the Gibney Company. An Ohio native, Amy earned a 2010 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and in 2009 was voted Outstanding Artist in dance by the Akron Area Arts Alliance.www.gibneydance.orgwww.groundworksdance.orgEmergent Strategy  by adrienne maree brownBraiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Brooklyn New York based choreographer, Raja Feather Kelly. Raja is the artistic director of New Brooklyn Theatre and founder of the dance-theatre-media company the feath3r theory. He was born in Fort Hood, Texas and holds a B.A. in Dance and English from Connecticut College. He is a three-time Princess Grace Award winner (2017, 2018, 2019). Over the past decade he has created fifteen evening-length works for the feath3r theory, choreographed extensively for Off-Broadway theatre, and performed with Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group, David Dorfman Dance, Kyle Abraham | A.I.M, and zoe | juniper.http://thefeath3rtheory.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Akron Ohio based choreographer, Dominic Moore-Dunson. Moore-Dunson's  recognitions and fellowships include the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize, MOCA Cleveland's “New Agent” award, Jacob's Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship, the Devil Strip Magazine's 2018 Breakout Artist, National Arts Strategies (NAS) Creative Community Fellowship, and others. His large-scale community-based dance theatre project called The ‘Black Card' Project premiered in September 2018 and is currently in its second iteration. https://www.instagram.com/dmooredun/https://www.instagram.com/theblackcardproject/

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Asheville, NC/Cleveland, OH based choreographer, educator, curator, performer, musician, and administrator, Mustapha Braimah. Braimah brings over two decades of international experience and high artistic acclaim to his roles as an artist-scholar from Ghana, West Africa. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of Dance Program at UNC Asheville. His art practice and creativity are deeply rooted in contemporary, popular, and traditional forms.mustaphabraimah.weebly.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with New York-based improviser and movement artist, Samantha Speis. Speis has worked with Gesel Mason, The Dance Exchange, Deborah Hay, is currently a member of The Skeleton Architecture collective of black womyn and gender non-conforming artists, and was recently awarded a Bessie for Outstanding Performer. She is also the Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women.urbanbushwomen.org/the-company

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Caribbean-born, New York-based choreographer and arts-leader Paloma McGregor. Paloma McGregor.  McGregor is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Angela's Pulse and the Dancing While Black project among others.Angela's PulseDancing While Black  

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' withWinston-Salem, NC, based choreographer, Helen Simoneau, who was recently recognized with a Guggenheim fellowship for her work which strives to hold space for individual agency and explores power dynamics through dance. A native of Rimouski, Québec, Simoneau is the artistic director of Helen Simoneau Danse and was recently described as “a Choreographer-on-the-rise” by Dance Magazine, and has been commissioned by The Juilliard School, Oregon Ballet Theatre, American Dance Festival, Springboard Danse Montréal among others. General examples of Helen's work: https://vimeo.com/helensimoneaudanseDARLING: https://vimeo.com/446889223Helen's website: https://helensimoneau.org/

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Taja Will is a queer, Chilean adoptee, performer, choreographer, therapist, and restorative justice facilitator based in the Twin Cities (MN). Their approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text, and vocals in contemporary performance. Will also works in healing justice and as an advocate for artists, especially serving as a liaison for artists in experimental forms, people of color, and the LGBTQIA2+ communities.tajawillartist.com

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Artistic Directors of Bridgman|Packer Dance (Valley Cottage, NY). They are Guggenheim Fellows and 2017 NY Dance and Performance Award recipients (The Bessies). Their collaborative work focuses on integrating live performance and video technology to blur the line between image and reality, explore identity, and reveal multiple layers of consciousness. They are also recipients of four NPN Creation Fund Awards and numerous grants from the NEA, National Dance Project, NYSCA, and NYFA.www.bridgmanpacker.org"Remember What Never Happened" is featured here from the Beirut Spring Festival in 2017https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZFj2p5Bjk

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Jesse Factor (Slippery Rock, PA). Factor's growing repertoire of solo work has been presented in North American venues such as TQ Live! at the Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), OUTsider Festival (Austin), Milton Art Bank (Milton), RADfest (Kalamazoo), St. Mark's Church in the Bowery (NYC), and Fierce Queer Burlesque (Toronto).http://www.jessefactor.comhttps://blackcube.art/blog/chimera

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Bebe Miller (Columbus, OH). Miller has been named a Master of African American Choreography by the Kennedy Center, has received four “Bessie” awards, United States Artists and Guggenheim Fellowships, honorary doctorates from Ursinus College, and Franklin & Marshall College, and is one of the inaugural class of Doris Duke Artist Award recipients.http://bebemillercompany.org/http://bebemillercompany.org/projects/dancefort/Bebe's E-book "How Dancing is Built: The Making of In A Rhythm"http://bebemillercompany.org/projects/in-a-rhythm-e-book/http://themakingroom.org/Darrell Drive from A History (2012): https://vimeo.com/399322591