Month: September 2020

LLAB Ep 2: White Supremacy in Dance Education Pt II – w/ Michelle Gibson, Sydnie Mosley & Iyun Harrison

Photo credit for Sydnie: Jamie McClean @jmxclean
Photo credit for Michelle : Jonah Pester

In our previous episode of the LLAB, we spoke with three Black dancers about their experiences and challenges with navigating undergraduate dance programs. This week, we wanted to take it a step further. We expanded our dialogue to the often overlooked subject of being a Black dancer in a graduate program. Our guests, Michelle Gibson, Iyun Harrison, and Sydnie Mosley, share stories, lessons, and laughs on what it was like pursuing their Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA); they also provide advice for others interested in pursuing an MFA.

Michelle Gibson, MFA, is a cultural ambassador, choreographer, educator, and performing artist, as well as a faculty member at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Iyun Harrison, MFA, is choreographer, educator and the founder and creative director of Ballet Ashani. Contribute to the GoFundMe for Iyun’s Doctoral Program Fundraiser here! gf.me/u/yqzvwn

Sydnie Mosley, MFA, is a performer, choreographer, artist-activist, and educator, and artistic director of Sydnie L. Mosley Dances (SLMDances).

This is the 2nd episode in our new fall series, The LLAB with Antuan Byers. LLAB stands for listening, learning, and building. The overall goal of this series is to create a space to share marginalized Black voices, to learn from their experiences, and dream for ways in which we can move forward.

DANCERS ARE FIGURING IT OUT: Gus Solomons jr. – Dance Now Ep. 2

In the 2nd installment of PDD’s fall/spring series covering the Dance Now 25th anniversary season, new hosts Paul Hamilton and Sabrina Karlin interview the iconic Gus Solomons jr! Gus will be honored in Dance Now’s Chapter 1 virtual celebration on Thursday, October 1st at 7:00pm EDT. You can find more information and purchase a $20 ticket here, or check out the full season and ticketing options at https://dancenow.online/! In this interview, Gus gives us a fascinating overview of his career, including how he made his way from an architecture degree at MIT to Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and many more luminary choreographers. Along the way, he emphasizes the resilience and ingenuity of dancers and the dance community at large – an important message and reminder for all of us in these challenging times.  

Gus Solomons jr. is a vital and essential part of American dance history. As a dancer, he drew and captured the attention of Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pearl Lang, and Donald Mckayle, to name just a few. He created Gus Solomons Company/Dance in 1972, and the dance collective Paradigm in 1996. As a choreographer, he has created more than 170 works that have been performed on stages around the world, in art galleries and museums, in warehouses, and on film. As a teacher, he has motivated and mentored dance students for over decades. As a writer, he is creating literature that will hold true as the genre evolves. Yet, he continues to challenge himself, shifting seamlessly between these roles and creating new forms and new understandings of the art form that has given him so much.

LLAB Ep 1: White Supremacy in Dance Education Pt I – w/ Morgan Burns, Runako Campbell & Ricardo Hartley

In the first episode of this fall PDD series, The LLAB, new Host Antuan Byers talks to a recent grad, Morgan Burns, and college seniors, Runako Campbell and Ricardo Hartley, about their experiences navigating the world of dance education as Black students at predominantly white institutions. Although all three of these guests attended different colleges and conservatories, we quickly learned how their experiences as minorities in their programs have been very similar. We discussed our concerns with the lack of representation in our field, the importance and difficulty of finding mentors that look like you, and the challenges of accessing Black dance history. We also shared stories and experiences about how our dance spaces are eurocentric –  not leaving room for other aesthetics, techniques, and cultures. Morgan talked to us about what sparked the idea for her new organization, the Collegiate Association for Artists of Color (C.A.A.C.); Runako caught us up on what she will be exploring in her senior thesis that focuses on Black girls, women, and femme-identifying dancers; and Ricardo gave us the inside scoop on his new journal created specifically for queer artists of color.

Morgan Burns is a recent graduate of New York University, and is the founder of Collegiate Association for Artists of Color (C.A.A.C.).

Runako Campbell is a current senior at Princeton University, who has been an active member within their dance department, acting as an Artistic Director of their dance company, DiSiac, as well as dancing with the Princeton University Ballet.

Ricardo Hartley is a current senior at the Juilliard School, and founder of the dance workshop, The Audition.

This is the first episode in our new fall, series, The LLAB with Antuan Byers. LLAB stands for listening, learning, and building. The overall goal of this series is to create a space to share marginalized Black voices, to learn from their experiences, and dream for ways in which we can move forward.

WE’RE IN AN OPEN INQUIRY: Devon Bandison

Personal & Business Coach Devon Bandison joins new PDD Host Antuan Byers, as well as Jessica and Clara, to help the PDD team prepare to integrate racial justice conversations into our work. This work will begin with Antuan’s upcoming series called The LLAB (Listening, Learning and Building), which will create a space to share marginalized Black voices, to learn from their experiences, and dream for ways in which we can move forward. In preparation for this and more, Devon helps us understand how to approach racial conversations and our own contributions as individual members of society. 

Devon Bandison is one of the most sought-after personal and business coaches in the world. He works with Fortune 100 Companies and people from all walks of life, including professional athletes, CEO’s, salespeople, small business owners, filmmakers, producers, parents, and more.

Devon was born and raised in New York City, where his love of sports and hard work resulted in him receiving a basketball scholarship to Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. After graduating, he spent years working on the front lines in NYC with an organization responsible for developing behavioral health programs for youth, families and first-time fathers in some of the toughest neighborhoods throughout the city. As Director of this organization, he was responsible for the clinical and leadership development of social workers, psychiatrists and managers. He now serves as the Director of Children’s Services for the Community Mental Health Services division, in addition to running his coaching company and keeping up with numerous coaching and speaking engagements.

WE WILL REINVENT & REIMAGINE: Robin Staff – Dance Now Ep. 1

Robin Staff, Founding Executive Artistic Director of Dance Now, sat down with Clara and new PDD host Paul Hamilton to discuss Dance Now’s 25th anniversary season that kicks off on September 10th! Dance Now, which traditionally opens the NYC performance season with a week of shows at Joe’s Pub, is charting new territory by hosting a completely virtual season with performance and celebration chapters spanning September 2020 to May 2021. Pod de Deux will be covering the whole season! We chatted with Robin about the process of going virtual, presenting artists with the challenge of creating work remotely within the dimensions of the Joe’s Pub stage (fitting for quarantine!), and her own personal history in the dance world. Purchase tickets to individual events or a season pass at https://dancenow.online/!

Don’t miss these videos of creative approaches to dance in pandemic times that Robin mentioned enjoying!

Keigwin & Wolcott work: Juilliard students perform to Bolero
Black Men of Concert Dance passing ballet shoes (under “Slaying on Social”)

The daughter of a painter, Robin went to Goucher College to study visual and creative arts and graduated as the first dance major, charting the development of one of today’s most vital college dance programs. She continued her career as a dancer at an age that was then considered ‘too old’, creating a small repertory company to sustain both a love of neo‐classical ballet and an eagerness to explore new and contemporary movement styles. Robin was inspired by unusual urban spaces and created her first gallery performance at the Wooster Street Gallery in Soho in 1993. The intimacy and enormous enthusiasm between the artists and audience members at this first performance predicted DANCE NOW’s artistic direction.

Over the past two decades, DANCE NOW has worked to make dance accessible and welcoming, bending the rules to offer artists a new way to think about creating and audiences new ways to experience dance. As DANCE NOW moves into its third decade, Robin’s vision continues to encompass the untraditional, the unconventional and the unknown. As an administrator, she is directed by her concern for the survival of dance makers, particularly young artists and BIPOC dance artists. She remains steadfast in her commitment to providing opportunities that present new choices, stimulate creativity, advance careers, and encourage exploration of the untried, while defying the archetypical and carving a path to new means of expression.