Two of St. Louis' top cultural institutions, The Black Rep and The Pulitzer Arts Foundation are collaborating this summer to bring audiences Movement in Conversation with Landscape, as part of the The Black Rep’s Phoenix Rising Performance Series, presented by the Whitaker Foundation, June 16-25, 2023 at the Pulitzer. The Series includes unique dance performances, dance film screenings, and master classes. Full schedule and details below, with FREE admission to all.
June 16-18: Fri., 6-7 p.m. followed by a reception with the artists; Sat., 5-6 p.m.; Sun., 5-6 p.m.
Performances including:
The Seventh Floor Dance Collective – Founded by Heather Beal, this St. Louis based dance company is dedicated to the preservation and legacy of Dunham Technique. Performing inside in the Galleries.
Brother(hood) Dance - An interdisciplinary duo that seeks to inform its audiences on the socio-political and environmental injustices from a global perspective, bringing clarity to the same-gender-loving African-American experience in the 21st century. Performing outside throughout Park Like.
Nana – A performance ritualist, youth educator, and loquacious lover, their artistry is the lens through which they conjure Black Queer Feminist research. Nana is the Artistic Director of Healing the Black Body. Performing outside at Spring Church.
Thurs., June 22: 8-9:30 p.m.
Screening of dance films: With introductions and post-show conversation led by Kirven Douhtit-Boyd, Artistic Director of Big Muddy Dance Co. Held outside in the courtyard between the Contemporary Art Museum and The Pulitzer. Space limited, FREE with registration required. Register at https://pultzerarts.org
Films include:
The Weight of Sugar
Director: Jingqiu Guan; Choreographer: Bernard Brown
Filmed on location at a renovated historic mill, the short film uses the lens of sugar to illuminate some of the lasting effects of colonialism on women of color. With support from a strong community, a young black woman guides us toward ascension, releasing the vestiges of oppression scattered.
“a clearing” a part of the FLY | DROWN series
Co-Directors: Jennifer Harge and Devin Drake
This short chronicles a dance folktale honoring Black women’s movement towards flight. Set in a post-Great Migration home in Detroit, MI, it is an interwoven story of two characters, elder and nyeusi, and moves between the mundane, the majestic, fact, and fable.
June 23-25: Fri., 6-7 p.m. followed by a reception with the artists; Sat., 5-6 p.m.; Sun., 5-6 p.m.
Performances including:
Swamp Body Dance - Brittany Williams is an international dancer, choreographer, and organizer; a principal dancer with Olujimi Dance; the founder of Dancing for Justice and Obika Dance Projects. A womanist, a ride or die freedom fighter, and art-maker, Brittany creates work that is part reality, part fugitive. Performing outside in the Tree Grove.
Harge Dance Stories - Jennifer Harge is an interdisciplinary choreographer, performance artist, and educator based in Detroit whose work centers on Black and queer vernacular movement practices, codes, and rituals that manifest at the intersections of performance, installation, and community gathering. Performing outside at Spring Church.
The Seventh Floor Dance Collective with Siobhan Monique – Singer, songwriter, and educator based in Florida, Siobhan is also the founding artist of Ancestral Funk TM, Inc. Held outside in the courtyard between the Contemporary Art Museum and The Pulitzer.
https://www.ancestralfunk.com/
Sat., June 17 & Sat., June 24: MASTER CLASSES
A full schedule of Master Classes will be offered. Space limited, FREE with registration; full class listing at www.theblackrep.org
For more information, email Heather Beal at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
