Movement Through The Valley: Excerpts from Chrome Valley
Friday, April 14, 2023 at 7:00pm
Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio, 241 Pine Street, Middletown
FREE! Reservations and masks required.
Click here to view images from this event on flickr.
Read ‘Dance as Activism’ Students Create Movements to Poems from Browne’s ‘Chrome Valley’ in The Wesleyan Connection.
Students from the “Dance as Activism” course (DANC 379), taught by Assistant Professor of the Practice in Dance and African American Studies Joya Powell, perform an end-of-semester showing of movement activations. Created from Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writer in Residence Mahogany L. Browne’s new poetry collection Chrome Valley (2023), the showing is directed by Jonathan McCrory, Executive Artistic Director of the National Black Theatre in Harlem.
Featuring Jazmin Alvarez '26, Madi Ambrosi '25, Emma Clayton '25, Malia Detar Cheung '25, Mosab Hamid '23, Jenna Handler '23, Mairead Kennedy '24, Olivia Klein '24, Elijah Leshnick '25, Max Morfoot '26, Arianna Ramirez '25, Itzel Valdez '23, and nicole schully '25.
Please RSVP here or with "Reserve Now" button above (seating is limited to 30 guests). Please remove your shoes before entering the studio.
PROFILES
Mahogany L. Browne is the Executive Director of JustMedia, a media literacy initiative designed to support the groundwork of criminal justice leaders and community members. This position is informed by her career as a writer, organizer, and educator. Browne has received fellowships from Agnes Gund, Air Serenbe, Cave Canem, Poets House, Mellon Research, and Rauschenberg. She is the author of recent works Chlorine Sky, Woke: A Young Poets Call to Justice, Woke Baby, and Black Girl Magic. Browne is the founder of the diverse lit initiative Woke Baby Book Fair; and is excited about her latest poetry collection. I Remember Death By Its Proximity to What I Love is a book-length poem responding to the impact of mass incarceration on women and children. She is based in Brooklyn and is the first-ever Poet-in-Residence at the Lincoln Center.
Jonathan McCrory is a two Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts. He has been acknowledged as an exceptional leader through Craine’s New York Business 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives. In 2013, he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by theatrical legend Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of the collaborative producing organizations Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network, and The Movement Theatre Company. McCrory sits on the National Advisory Committee for Howlround.com and was a member of the original cohort for ArtEquity. A Washington, D.C. native, McCrory attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. To learn more, please visit www.jonathanmccrory.com.
Images (from left): Chrome Valley book cover, Mahogany L. Browne, and Jonathan McCrory.