[Part of project Connecting Communities Connecting Diversity] clip of performance titled: protection nest, video by Tseion Amare Aug 13,'22 at 12th Ave Arts// Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation// A collaboration between lesly, mayfield, S, karen n, and karen s, (skyla miles, spoke word) taking place at the entrance of the building. You are invited to witness from the lobby or from outside, you may pass through the nest to shift experience.
UPCOMING ON VASHON ISLAND
UPCOMING ON VASHON ISLAND
Communities Connecting, Connecting Diversity is
an outreach project that bridges diverse artists to diverse micro-communities on Vashon Island to co-inspire somatic abolitionism, experimental dance, creative expression and joy.
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Contact Improvisation (CI) dance turns 50 this year. This celebratory project organizes a group of dance artists, majority BIPOC, ranging from from 5-8 people whose identity locations include ability, race, gender, sexual orientation, culture and age. Our artistic research is: how can we know each other more?
The group’s pattern begins each day in contemplative ensemble improvisation and shared practices of “somatic abolitionism” (term credit: Resmaa Menakem). From there we move into co-curated partnerships developing and choreographing ideas for community interaction. Each day culminates in a meeting with a micro-community on Vashon to share and exchange the fresh work.
Outreach in advance will provide groundwork for developing the performance, workshop, discussion or ritual that the group will take “down the road” for each unique interaction. Our pop up performance plans include interactions with Patrisse Cullors' installation at Vashon Center for the Arts "abolition is....." on Aug 17th at 12:30 and 1:30pm. We will also share our work at public monuments on Vashon Island that decline to honor and acknowledge the Coast Salish Indigenous people displaced by colonialization. And we plan to interact with the Salish Sea and approach our relationships to water, whales, and the streams of human ancestry that we relate with.
These latter pop-up will also be filmed, and announced on this website and IG.
Each community interaction celebrates new beginnings and launches research into: how do we connect, support and discover how to learn from each other? Through inquiry, the artists model the labors and goals of connection, bridging first with each other, then into community. As one Vashon Island BIPOC artist responded to the proposal, “….without proximity, healing is challenging, yes contact!!”
Thanks to our supporters including Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant and private donations.
The work in this video inspires our upcoming project Communities Connecting, Connecting Diversity and includes several members of our project. Think Gravity Dance Tank was co-curated by Karen Schaffman and Anya Cloud and includes artists involved in the Vashon Project.
