10 Years in the Making..
Reflections on our 10th Anniversary Season.....
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Red Clay Dance has been truly overwhelming in the most joyous of ways as I was able to witness and support the vision of Vershawn’s newest masterpiece, Art of Resilience (AOR) 2.0.
Like many of the other ladies of Red Clay, my experience was a little different; having joined the company in 2017, I processed and performed excerpts from AOR yet, hadn’t performed in the full work previously. You can now imagine how excited I was to be part of this immersive work in 2019.
If I could wrap up this experience with a couple of words, it would have to be “community driven”. Red Clay prides itself on serving the people of it’s communities, and this by far has been the most eye opening and rewarding communal experiences I’ve taken part in. They say it takes a village to raise a child and this baby (AOR) was surely birthed and carefully nurtured by the hands of many.
As the process unfolded, it was nice to see pieces of the previous work being chopped and screwed in real time: music, choreographic phrases, text. Pieces that I had been familiar with. We were accountable for ourselves and for each other throughout the process, and it was extremely rewarding to see everyone hold their piece of the puzzle with care, intention, and clear purpose despite any challenges.
Performance Realization
They also say “each one, teach one”, and my was it electrifying seeing my students in the audience of the Roundhouse, them being able to see themselves and their stories in the work. Them also being able to be part of the work. They reminded me so much of myself, eagerly jumping in without any doubts.
I could talk for days about the process of AOR 2.0, but at the soul of this experience, what was most rewarding was the abundance of support. Communities supporting other communities. Artists supporting other artists. Black artists supporting other Black artists!! From Vershawn’s leadership to the live vibrations of DJ Sadie to the willingness of the audience. From Avery Young’s soulful stories to the performance floor and innovative seating by Project Tool and Sweet Water Foundation, I truly believe history was made and will henceforth continuously be made in the Roundhouse of the DuSable Museum.
A needed transformation existed, an atmospheric exchange, only ones who were there could feel —
Company Member, Marceia L. Scruggs
AOR 2.0 is one of my favorite pieces to date. Transforming space, including other art forms such as digital media, song and vocalizations really took the experience to a whole new level. Dance and theater came together and I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the audience and bringing them along the journey, making it more of a conversation and exchange. The creative process definitely challenged me emotionally and creatively in trying to find the balance between taking creative license and learning set steps. I look forward to more opportunities to do this kind of work.
Company Member, Chaniece Holmes
Art of Resilience 2.0 was INCREDIBLE. Felicia and I couldn't stop talking about it last Thursday night and I couldn't stop dreaming about it all weekend.
It was wow - just wow. You realized an epic, immersive and powerful vision that filled the roundhouse visually and aurally and emotionally and thoughtfully and exquisitely. The space felt like an organic extension of the dancers' bodies (especially on the floors - you all seemed so perfectly attuned with their beginnings and endings) and the sound design felt like a visible collaborator - actually visible because of how the sound and music impacted the performers' and the audience's bodies.
The floors and the red carpets complemented the wooden support structure of the roof perfectly along with the pillars - and then you add the lighting...! But it all came back to and from the dancing. You FILLED that giant space and made it feel intimate and grand at the same time. And ultimately the content of the work was what filled my spirit to overflowing. I loved loved loved it. And I'm so grateful to you for making it. From being invited in to participate in the movement to being told we were all wrong and needed to change seats to the painful clutching at the throat and the bodies as disconnected and abrasive to the movement as joyous contagion to the flags as superheroine capes and the possibility of hope and redemption for our country. O please yes. O now yes. O good god yes. Thank you Thank You THANK YOU-
Roell Schmidt, Links Hall
Before AOR 2.0 I never thought of myself as a resilient person but rather a witness of resilience within others. Being in the creation process with the company unlocked the realization within myself that I am just as powerful and potent as the creatives who came before me. Our community, of the past and present, is full of warriors and the time to act is now!
Company Member, Leana Allen
Art of Resilience 2.0
As we started the process for AOR 2.0 I was excited to dig back into the work and its focus on the ways that Black people find resilience and the inherent art in those practices. One memory that has stayed with me throughout the work is the collection of words and phrases we gathered around the concepts of resilience and resistance. As we shared our ideas around these concepts there was a mixture of pride and pain evident in my body. There were moments of recognition when the words of my peers seem to tap the pulse of something that only a moment before felt intangible and without adequate language to express. There are still moments when I experience this even after the completion of the first activation at the DuSable Roundhouse. Like, what force of nature kept me still for 15-17 minutes at the beginning of each experience as audience members engaged with the walking museum and my breath was so shallow that the right gust of wind might blow me over. What in my life prepared me for that practice of stillness? That exercise in overt invisibility on display? I was present and unreachable at the same moment. An embodiment of the survival element of resilience that takes place when entire communities exist in the margins in the aftermath of a deliberate attempt at erasure.
The deconstruction and reconstruction of past movement phrase work to fit the space was a vigorous challenge. One that was frustrating during the process but exhilarating in performance. I am profoundly grateful for the levels of vulnerability we were able to explore as an ensemble in our duets for the Migrations section. To be in a position of supporting the awakening of resilience Chaniece’s character to being of vessel of lack and breathlessness during my conflict with Leana’s character there was not a moment wasted on unnecessary storytelling. I experienced the full range of human emotion every time we journeyed through that section. The audience’s willingness to take the ride with us was humbling. There was an exchange beyond words so deep that the hugs I received at the end were from a place of shared appreciation between strangers and friends alike. There was an electricity in the atmosphere. There were moments that as a witness I was absolutely spellbound.
As a Griot I was motivated to keep going until I found the moment of resonance in the storytelling for myself and my audience.This work is exciting to me because of its immersive nature. I love the attention to audience inclusion as we encountered, held up, examined, challenged and forged ahead, through the real and imagined stories of Chicago’s resilience. It represents what it means to be present in the moment. It pushes the boundaries of what it means to move a crowd, physically and spiritually. For me it is an affirmation of the work that has already been done and a litmus test for what remains. I loved being able to give voice to a rallying cry thanks to the brilliant female writers from the Black Arts Movement. It was beautiful to see the work begin with people repossessing the earth that is their own bodies.There are so many other things I am still digesting, meditating on, and coming to terms with, in response to my participation in this work. It is an understatement to say I am proud of what we created.
The impact of the vision that Vershawn presented to us in January is still rippling through the way I occupy space on a daily basis, and I suspect that will be true for a very long time.
Company Member, Sara Ziglar
Congratulations on this weekend's DANCE4PEACE concert. I was moved to tears by the second piece, recalling my first youth dance concert where my goddaughter danced, only 4 itty-bitty years old at the time. Today she's 15 and more into softball than dance. Nonetheless, the spirit of teamwork/ ensemble are essential to both endevours.
The concert reminded me how the arts develop this sense of individual and collective accomplishment. I'm 54 years old and I am still connected to my three friends who I met in our high school drama club. I think I misted up recognizing the past and the future was dancing before me and how grateful I am for having a career in the arts.
Kristin Larsen, Arts & Business Council Chicago
I take every moment in my life as a learning opportunity. I didn’t know much about the "black belt" prior to working with Vershawn in Art of Resilience 2.0 and it opened my eyes a lot to the city of Chicago especially the relationship between whites and blacks. This iteration of the work brought more things to the forefront for me as far as what’s important to me. It also gave me the space to explore and discover why they were important to me. The work overall taught me how to actively respond to situations which is something that I strongly value. Especially considering the weight of daily hardships or even things that have happened historically still has residue that presently resides in my life. Personally, this piece sort of served as a course on RESILIENCE. I feel like I went through so many different phases of re-understanding, re-imagining, and re-visiting things from my past that I didn’t realize had as much weight on my life-my work as an artists both inside and outside of red clay. I definitely feel It awakened some things in my life and shifted my perspective towards black culture or even the black, brown and white communities at large. Most importantly, It opened up my eyes to this idea that WE ARE ENOUGH! #BlackPeople
While growing up and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, my plan to achieve my goals or how I think they might manifest, I didn’t realize how much had already been shaped by the system. Often, there were these underlying beliefs that my dreams could come true through some means of a white person. Though it wasn’t until my experience being apart of Art of Resilience 2.0. that I realized again, WE ARE ENOUGH! Black people are enough for our communities. We don’t need someone to hold our hand and we don’t need there resources. We have enough in our history, in books and tons of information even now in 2019 to build our communities on our own. I think we are so use to building up other people’s communities and we are so use to seeing the results or success of other people knowing it was built on our backs and from our hard work. Unfortunately, I feel somewhere along the way we lost sight of our own power and abilities to be great which causes this cyclical narrative to exist.
When I finally got to the place where I understood it all I said to myself, "this is frustrating and this has to stop".
With the help of Vershawn providing the space for exploration, conversation, and activism I have developed some agency in my body and in my voice that inspires me. Mostly to become someone that works to use what I have and what I know for my community without having to feel validated by a white-powered system. I want to continue to empower my people that they are enough and understand how important our blackness is, from skin to personal stories to what we define as our collective identity and culture. To educate the world on what it represents, what it doesn’t represent and not to be afraid to talk about that.
After exploring and discovering things important to me through this work, as a 28 year old black women currently living in Chicago, I do feel like I am more empowered than ever. There were also other things outside of this work that contributed to my current state of mind. However, I believe Art of Resilience 2.0 really exposed what Resilience really is for me and how much there is an art to struggling. There’s a way to struggle and still thrive on knowing I’m apart of something greater that is constantly shifting, evolving, and transforming. Lastly, it is because of art, in my opinion, that we are able to see our truths, accept them and deal with them. All the while, understanding and exercising our right to make choices. To use ART as a weapon of Resilience.
Company Member, Destine Young
EKILI MUNDA | What Lies Within
La Femme Dance Festival
Art of Resilience 2.0
THANK YOU!!!
