Inside the Dancer's Studio

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.com

Donna Uchizono: donnauchizono.org

Annie-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.