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Ladies of Hip Hop Work-In-Progress Showing – School event only (not open to the public)
January 9
This event is through Arts10566 in collaboration with OUFSD + Peekskill schools (not open to the public)
“Each woman’s voice stands powerfully on its own.” —Dance Enthusiast
Performed by the all-female intergenerational Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective (LDC), the Black Dancing Bodies Project is an ongoing journey through layers of identity and existence for Black women in street dance and the world at large. Exploring the elegance and power of women in hip hop, LDC builds on the shapeshifting paths laid out by generations of Black women artists and activists on and off the stage. First commissioned by Works & Process, this project received a 2021 bubble residency and premiered at the Guggenheim in March of 2023, 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 members of the company respond 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.
As a portion of their residency at BAC, all residents are encouraged to participate in a community program. Ladies of Hip Hop will be collaborating with Arts10566 for a workshop with middle school dance students from Ossining and Peekskill.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER: Michele Byrd-McPhee
DANCERS/CHOREOGRAPHERS: Imani Arrington, Cocoro Carr, Tomoe “Beasty” Carr.
Jaiquin Coleman, Desire Ortiz, Reyna Núñez, Roukijah “NutellaK” Rooks, Khadijah Siferllah, Charlene Smith, Miyabi Wright.
ADDITIONAL DANCERS/CHOREOGRAPHERS NOT APPEARING TODAY: LaTasha Barnes, Brat, Britney Brown, Tweetboogie.
