RED CLAY DANCE’S “VISIONS & VOICES” GOES VIRTUAL! Rehearsal Footage, Choreographer Interviews and More

To provide audiences with an inside look at the creation and preparation involved in its spring program, Red Clay Dance Company (RCDC) is sharing a series of videos related to its previously scheduled “Visions & Voices,” which intended to consider the question, “How do our bodies manifest the world around and through us?”

 

 “We are, above all, an arts organization that strives to connect with our community,” said Founder/Artistic Director and artivist Vershawn Sanders-Ward. “We have been working in the studio for several months with guest choreographers Du’Bois A’Keen and Lela Aisha Jones, both of whom have created world premieres, as well as on my own premiere for the company. We are fortunate to have captured much of that creative process on video and now, in lieu of our live performances, can share it with our audiences and supporters.”

 

RCDC is posting its video series during the next two weeks, culminating with the original performance dates of April 3 and 4. The public may view the following on RCDC’s Facebook and Instagram pages:

 

• Tuesday, March 24: RCDC’s Philadelphia residency with Jones, part of the process of creating her world premiere, artistic/soulful labor that expresses dreams for blackness and reciprocity with the natural environment.
• Friday, March 27: Sanders-Ward’s world premiere FAKE NEWS!, a response to the 2016 “election” that re-examines ideals of capitalism, democracy, immigration and our dangerous obsession with power and media
• Tuesday, March 31: Jones’ Chicago residency, which took place later in the creation process of we:all ~ gon’ die into revivals
• Friday, April 3: Footage from RCDC’s 5th Anniversary Paint the Town Red fundraiser, coinciding with the original opening night of “Visions & Voices,” which would have included the Paint the Town Red post-show party fundraiser
• Saturday, April 4: Short film inside the creative process of A’Keen’s world premiere INCARNATION 1, which explores the body as archive, altar and access point, set in the present-future but experienced in retrospect, caught in time lapse. The work asks: How do we prepare ourselves to be good ancestors? What are we downloading to pass on? The work features music by Kingsley Ibeneche, Moses Sumney, Shake, and Jessie Reyez; Jovan Landry is the filmmaker; and costumes concept is by Cam A’Keen, styled by KFleye.

 

Anyone who follows RCDC on social media may view the videos at no charge, although the company would appreciate donations to offset the lost ticket revenue. Individuals may donate by texting RCDANCE to 44-321.

 

Augmenting the video footage are “Choreographer Conversations” with the three choreographers; the conversation with Du’Bois A’Keen is available here; the conversation with Lela Aisha Jones is available here; and the conversation with Vershawn Sanders-Ward will be posted April 7.

 

For more information about RCDC, visit redclaydance.com.

 

Red Clay Dance Company

Red Clay Dance Company lives to awaken “glocal” change through creating, performing, and teaching dances of the African Diaspora—change that transforms cultural and socioeconomic inequities in our local and global community. Founder Vershawn Sanders-Ward conceived the idea of RCDC while on her first trip to Senegal, West Africa, when she became fascinated by the interconnectedness of dance and everyday life. The name Red Clay comes from her childhood memories of playing in red earth during her summers in Mobile, Alabama.

 

RCDC is supported by the Chicago Community Trust, the Alphawood Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H Driehaus Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Springboard Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

 

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Top: Kenesha Reed in INCARNATION 1, photo by Kristie Kahns.
Du'Bois A'Keen courtesy of Du'Bois A'Keen.
Bottom L:  Vershawn Sanders-Ward by Raymond Jerome.
Bottom R: Lela Aisha Jones by Denise Allen.