Body and Soul: Rebecca Fitton: Rethinking fiscal sponsorship and equity

Rebecca Fitton (photo: Sarah Annie Navarette)

 

Rebecca, a mixed-race Asian American person with messy short brown hair smiles. Their hands are in the pockets of a short-sleeve, navy corduroy jumpsuit.

In this episode of Body and Soul podcast, dance artist and administrator Rebecca Fitton (she/they) presents insights from her research into the ways current systems of fiscal sponsorship maintain the status quo of power and fail artists.

Listen to her Body and Soul episode via Spotify, and watch her film, Best Practices (2022).

Transcript of this episode

Rebecca Fitton is from many places and peoples. She nurtures community through movement, conversation, and food, strives to equally prioritize her multifaceted roles as an artist, administrator, and advocate.  Fitton works as Co-Director/Director of Operations and Development for Bridge Live Arts and as the Director of Studio Rawls for artist Will Rawls. She has previously produced multi-disciplinary works for J. Bouey, zavé martohardjono, and FAILSPACE. From 2017-2021, she worked with DELIRIOUS Dances/Edisa Weeks to coordinate community gatherings focused on abolition movements. She was a Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee member from 2018-2020 and participated in Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training in 2021. Their writing has been published by Triskelion Arts, Emergency Index, In Dance, The Dancer-Citizen, Etudes, Critical Correspondence, and Dance Research Journal. They hold a BFA in Dance from Florida State University and an MA in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin. rebeccafittonprojects.com

Body and Soul: Vicky Shick: The refuge we take in trust

Vicky Shick (photo: Alan Mandell)

 

Describing this photo, Vicky Shick writes:

I am sitting on a gray bench with a bunch of green leaves behind me. My hair is loosely piled.on top of my head. I am wearing a dark gray sweater - a light green collar is sticking out and around my neck is a colorful gray, red and pink scarf.

In this episode of Body and Soul podcast, the respected, award-winning artist and educator Vicky Shick discusses the challenge and "universal necessity" of trust in a time of widespread distrust and anxiety. As an artist, she sources trust in "the innate intelligence in our bodies" and "in the vulnerable practice of creation."

Listen to Vicky's episode here. And scroll down to learn more about her work!

Vicky Shick has been involved in the New York dance community for four decades--teaching, performing, and making pieces. She feels grateful to all the incredible people with whom she has worked. She was a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and staged several of Brown’s dances, including in her hometown, Budapest. Previously, she was a member of the Sara Rudner Performance Ensemble. Vicky has developed student pieces at Barnard, The New School and Yale, among other institutions. Her last two works were at Arts on Site, and a collaborative performance at Roulette with choreographer/artist Jon Kinzel. In New York City, she teaches at Movement Research, for the Trisha Brown Dance Company and has taught for 15 years at Hunter College. She was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence (twice), a Bessie recipient (twice), a grant recipient from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, a Gibney DiP grantee, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

BODY AND SOUL: Heather Robles: Reclaiming aliveness

Heather Robles (photo: AK47 Division)

In this headshot of Heather, she smiles while facing the camera, her brown hair pulled back in a bun, while wearing red lipstick, red dangly earrings, and a black suit jacket with white shirt underneath.

Heather Robles gently beckons us out of the numbness we might have slipped into as the world feels so hard right now. What do we desire and how can desire and curiosity awaken and guide us forward towards joy?

You'll notice this episode has no background music. I didn't need or want that sound to cover Frijolito's snoring!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

Heather Robles (photo: by Keith A Manning)

Black and white photo shows Heather in a full body position back arched up, arms above head and hands furled like a plant about to unfold, her legs standing with one knee bent and foot forced arch. She is in front of a window with city lights showing through, the floor wooden. She is wearing a long asymmetrical sleeveless top and black leggings while barefoot.

Heather Robles is a nondisabled queer Latinx cis woman of Indigenous Mexican descent who lives on the stolen land of the Lenape and Canarsie peoples in what is colonially called Brooklyn. She is Founder and Artistic Executive Director of Alma Dance Company. As a choreographer and performer, she has worked with many artists including Yvonne Rainer, Sidra Bell, Pavel Zuštiak, Nathan Trice, DANCENOISE, André M. Zachery, Buglisi Dance Theater, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Suzzanne Ponomarenko Dance, The Equus Projects. She is also the Executive Director of the New York Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, and a certified birth doula at Our Birth Doula. Heather is also a dance educator, teaching artist, producer, and advocate for mental health in the dance field. https://www.almadanceco.com

Congratulations to the Bessies organization and this year's winners!

 

j. bouey in A Message from Mx. Black Cooper (photo: Rachel Keane)

 

The New York Dance and Performance Awards, the Bessies, tonight announced the 2023 award recipients at the 39th Bessie Awards Ceremony. The Illustrious Blacks hosted this year’s celebratory event, which was held at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City. A complete list of the 2023 awards follows below.

 

Bessie Awards were presented to artists for outstanding choreographer/creator, performer, sound design/music composition, visual design, outstanding revival, and breakout choreographer—an award that honors an artist who has made an exceptional leap in their career this past year. All of the awardees and nominated artists in these categories received a $500 honorarium, courtesy of a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

 

Renowned dancer, singer, and actor Dionne Figgins presented Virginia Johnson with the 2023 Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance. Artists and dance advocates Porshia A. Derival and Ms Vee presented Michele Byrd-McPhee with the 2023 Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance. Other presenters included Tyler Ashley, Clifton Brown, George Faison, Erin Fogerty, Dyane Harvey Salaam, Karisma Jay, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Abdel Salaam, and Paz Tanjuaquio.

 

Barkha Patel was honored with the 2023 Juried Bessie Award, selected by the 2023 Bessie Jury luciana achugar, Ayodele Casel, and Kyle Marshall. The Juried Award recognizes a choreographer who exhibits some of the most interesting and exciting ideas in dance in New York City today, and whose work deserves to be seen more outside the city. The award comes with touring support and other engagement opportunities from New York State DanceForce.

 

The ceremony also included special remarks from Vicky Capote of Dance/NYC, Alton Murray, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Lucy Sexton, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Culture and Arts, and Bessies Executive Director Heather Robles.

 

The ceremony included an audience participation dance tribute to O’Shae Sibley. Dance Theatre of Harlem performed Orange, a duet by Stanton Welch, in honor of Virginia Johnson. Fredrick Earl Mosley’s Unbroken, performed by his company Diversity of Dance was also presented, along with an excerpt from Princess Lockeroo’s The Fabulous Waack Dancers Big Show, and Afro-Acro, performed by AbunDancers Youth Ensemble.

 

The Bessies also honored members of the dance community who died this past year. The moving In Memoriam was presented by dancers Mireicy Aquino and Jhailyn Farcon.

 

The celebration continued at the Bessies Silent Disco After-Party with DJ Sabine Blaizin on Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza.

 

The 2023 Bessie Awards Ceremony was produced by Torya Beard and Heather Robles.

 

THE 2023 NEW YORK DANCE AND PERFORMANCE AWARD RECIPIENTS AND CITATIONS:

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE AWARD

 

Virginia Johnson

 

For inspiring audiences for 28 years with dynamic performances as a founding member and principal dancer of Dance Theatre of Harlem. For her tenure as Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem, continuing the company’s legacy of innovation and excellence, while expanding its reach and impact through collaborations with other organizations. For founding Pointe Magazine, and serving as editor-in-chief for nearly a decade. For editorial vision, bringing diverse voices and perspectives to the forefront of the dance community. For a lifelong commitment to the arts, and a career of significant contributions to the world of dance as a celebrated dancer, editor, and artistic director.

 

OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE FIELD OF DANCE AWARD

 

Michele Byrd-McPhee

 

For being an incredible force in the global dance community, especially as an advocate for young girls and women in hip-hop. As the Founder and Executive Director of Ladies of Hip-Hop, Byrd-McPhee has worked for decades to recontextualize spaces and conversations about hip-hop along gender, cultural, socio-historical, and racial lines. Her vision for women of all generations in hip-hop has created opportunities for them to perform on concert dance stages, teach in the most prestigious dance institutions, and create incredible opportunities for themselves within hip-hop’s legacy.

 

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER/CREATOR

 

LaTasha Barnes

LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum at The Joyce Theater

 

A joyous celebration of jazz dance throughout history, Barnes flexes the imposed proscenium setting to engage a communal experience, demonstrating community as the center of this form. An offering of (re)embodiment to the audience, this work showcases seamless transitions between styles, demonstrating technical mastery from the cast and deep creativity and thoughtfulness from its creator.

 

Dormeshia

Dormeshia Tap Collective: Rhythm Is Life at The Joyce Theater

 

For crafting stellar interplay between movement, sound, performer, and improvisation. Deeply human, rooted in tradition and joy, Dormeshia shows us where tap dance has been, where it is, and where it is going.

 

Benjamin Akio Kimitch

Tiger Hands at The Shed

 

For a beautiful work with an extraordinarily sensitive exploration of personal and cultural identity. The work creates an entirely new movement vocabulary that holds resonant memories of traditional Peking opera dance forms, and is embedded with shimmering novelty in tribute to a beloved mother.

 

Omari Wiles

New York Is Burning at Works & Process at The Guggenheim

 

For a beautiful representation of intergenerational Black experiences that pays homage to the dancers and artists from the classic documentary Paris Is Burning. This work is a gorgeously joyous, queer collection of dance and music stories. As a timeless tribute, it highlights the Afro Dance, House, Vogue, and Ballroom communities, their current cultural relevance, and prioritizes the diversity of dancers’ bodies, bringing out the power within Black dance and music.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER

 

j. bouey

 

In A Message from Mx. Black Copper by j. bouey at Movement Research at the Judson Church

For an exhilarating performance embodying Black joy. This work is an exploration of emotion and movement that evokes love, trauma, honesty, and progression. The performance was thoughtful, unapologetic, and celebratory of life, self, and ancestry.

 

Amanda Castro

In Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic by Ayodele Casel at The Joyce Theater

 

Castro’s performance capacity and arresting stage presence offer playfulness, dynamism, and mastery, particularly in the connection between percussionist and dancer. Her clear delineation in performance teaches the audience about Afro-Latin influences and intrinsic tap rhythms, with a demonstrated fluency in many styles.

 

Joyce Edwards

In Grace, The Equality of Night and Day and Open Door by Ronald K. Brown at The Joyce Theater

 

For bringing presence and identity into an exquisite embodiment of Ronald K. Brown’s work. Edwards exudes irrefutable strength, depth, warmth, reverence, conviction, and connection.

 

Albert Silindokuhle Ibokwe Khoza

In And so you see… our honorable blue sky and ever enduring sun… can only be consumed slice by slice… by Robyn Orlin at New York Live Arts

 

A uniquely bombastic, outrageous, and gorgeous performance that transcends genres, this is an unforgettably commanding performance that reveals deeper truths.

 

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL

 

In The Upper Room (1986/2022)

By Twyla Tharp at New York City Center

 

For a masterfully crafted and timeless work of dance art. In the Upper Room synthesizes choreography, costumes, music, and lighting into a transcendent experience for both audience and performers. The compelling score intersects with the bold choreography, creating an experience of raw power and grace.

 

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN/ MUSIC COMPOSITION

 

Charles Turner and Sean Mason

 

For LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum by LaTasha Barnes at The Joyce Theater

For a New York City sonic dream of musical arrangement that pays tribute to the eras of Black music from authentic jazz to hip-hop classics. The audience is brilliantly taken on a rollercoaster of musical nostalgia that makes one want to cry, dance, and move with joy! From the piano keys to the DJ turntables, and from the jazz clubs of Harlem to the playgrounds of Brooklyn, the arrangement is a true delight showing the magic of The Jazz Continuum.

 

OUTSTANDING VISUAL DESIGN

 

Tina Tzoka & Loukas Bakas (Set Design), Stephanos Droussiotis (Lighting Design), Nektarios Dionysatos (Sculptures and Special Constructions), Dimitris Korres (Mechanical Inventions)

For Transverse Orientation by Dimitris Papaioannou at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

 

For a team of designers who create scenes beyond what people might think is possible, and leave them gasping in awe. The team is the ‘David Copperfield’ of the field, possessing wide imaginative abilities that create the magic and make-believe of the theater.

 

OUTSTANDING BREAKOUT CHOREOGRAPHER

 

Symara Johnson

 

For deeply personal and profoundly joyful movement research with a choreographic practice based in American and West Indian heritage. For merging movement practices with rigorous archival research which calls for being in the present moment. For a creation of space within this practice for engagement of many ideas generated on the spot, and the ability to move between them with abandonment.

 

2023 JURIED BESSIE AWARD

 

Barkha Patel

 

For elegantly and magnificently creating, educating, and sharing work that elevates classical Indian and Kathak dance. Patel is deeply rooted in her art form’s spiritual and cultural history and is a contemporary voice who will contribute to the evolution of Kathak dance and its place in the dance world at large. 

 

ABOUT THE BESSIES

 

The New York Dance and Performance Awards have saluted outstanding and groundbreaking creative work in the dance field in New York City for 39 years. Known as “The Bessies” in honor of revered dance teacher Bessie Schönberg, the awards were established in 1984 by David R. White at Dance Theater Workshop. They recognize choreography, performance, music composition, visual design, legacy, and service to the field of dance by independent dance artists and organizations. Nominees are chosen by a selection committee composed of artists, presenters, producers, and writers. All those working in the dance field are invited to join the Bessies Membership and participate in annual discussions on the direction of the awards and nominate members to serve on the selection committee. For more information about The Bessies, visit www.bessies.org.

 

The 2022–2023 Bessie Awards Selection Committee: Tyler Ashley, Elizabeth Burke, Tymberly Canale, Yoshiko Chuma, Donna Costello, Porshia A. Derival, Tiffany Geigel, Valerie Green, Satsu Holmes, William Isaac, Anabella Lenzu, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Shalewa Mackall, Yoko Murakami, Ivan Talijančić, and Kate Thomas.

 

The Bessies Steering Committee: Paz Tanjuaquio (chair), Yvonne H. Chow, Stanford Makishi, maura nguyễn donohue, Nicky Paraiso, Craig Peterson, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, george emilio sanchez, and Charmaine Warren.

BODY AND SOUL: Stephan Koplowitz: History in place

Stephan Koplowitz (photo: Lynn Lane)

 

Award-winning choreographer and writer Stephan Koplowitz discusses the importance of thorough research into the history of a place--and knowledge of one's own relationship to history--in the making of site-specific performance. He describes site work as disruptive and all performance as political.

Listen to Stephan's episode of Body and Soul podcast here. And scroll down to learn more about his own history and work! 

 

Occupy by Stephan Koplowitz (photo: George Simian)

Mill Town by Stephan Koplowitz (photo: Jonathan Hsu)

 

Stephan Koplowitz is an award-winning artist/educator who creates site-specific and staged
dance performances, interactive media installations, and short films. His site performances aim
to alter people’s perspectives of place, site, and scale, infused with a sense of the human
condition, and concerned with the intersection of natural, social, and cultural ecologies within
urban and natural environments. His productions have been produced by performing arts
venues domestically and abroad having created 93 works (66 commissions) in the US, Europe,
and Asia. He received a 2017 Rockefeller Bellagio Fellowship, a 2004 Alpert Award, a 2003
Guggenheim Fellowship, 2000 “Bessie,” and 6 NEA Choreography Fellowships (1988-97). He
was named a Distinguished Alumni by Wesleyan University (BA in Music Composition) and the
University of Utah (MFA, Choreography). In April 2022, Oxford University Press published his
critically praised book On Site: Methods for Creating Site-Specific Performance. Koplowitz lives
in New York City. https://www.stephankoplowitz.com

BODY AND SOUL: Thomas Ford: For love of Black queer identity

Thomas Ford (photo: Angelo Soriano)

A person with brown skin wears a gray cap and a gray sleeveless shirt tucked into black athletic pants. His torso bends to the side, and ears hang over his shoulder in the same direction. The fingers of his right hand gently reach to the camera, while his knees bend and legs spread in a wide position.

In today's episode of Body and Soul podcast, dance artist and writer Thomas Ford reflects on his research into the violent colonial history at the root of homophobia in Black families and community.

Listen to Ford's talk here.

Thomas Ford is a dance artist, writer and scholar whose research examines the mechanisms of identity and culture through an exploration of embodiment, choreography, and Black, queer, critical and performance studies. https://www.thomasfordnyc.com/

BODY AND SOUL: Kate Mattingly: Troubling the silence

 

 

Kate Mattingly

Above: a white woman's face with curly, honey-colored hair, smiling and tilting her head slightly left. No photographer credit. Courtesy of Kate Mattingly.

This Spring, author Kate Mattingly published Shaping Dance Canons: Criticism, Aesthetics, Equity, an analysis of many decades of dance criticism in the US (University of Florida Press). As a white woman, she accepts responsibility to speak out about white supremacy. In her talk today, she shares thoughts on how white supremacy has historically defined and dominated dance criticism and continues to silence women in academia.

Dr. Mattingly has written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine, and Pointe Magazine and is associate editor of Dance Chronicle. She is assistant professor of dance at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Listen to Dr. Mattingly's talk on Body and Soul podcast here.

Below: two dancers, a Black man and white woman, seen in profile, with his right hand holding her right hand as she leans away from his body. He stands firmly in a deep lunge while she leans into her left hip. Image of Troy Blackwell and Kate Mattingly from a workshop staging of William Forsythe's Steptext at New York University. (Photo: Peter A. Smith)

Kate Mattingly (she/her) focuses on fostering equity in dance education. As an assistant professor at Old Dominion University, she teaches ballet, dance histories, teaching principles, dance studies, and graduate research methods. Her book, Shaping Dance Canons, interrogates how critics have foreclosed opportunities for certain artists and dance forms while generating validity for others, thereby contributing to a racialized dance canon. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance and Pointe magazines, The Washington Post, and academic journals. She has a forthcoming anthology, called Antiracism in Ballet Teaching, that will be published by Routledge. Kate’s undergraduate degree in Architecture is from Princeton University, her MFA degree in Dance is from NYU, and her doctoral degree in Performance Studies with a Designated Emphasis in New Media is from University of California, Berkeley.

Shaping Dance Canons: Criticism, Aesthetics, Equity (University of Florida Press, 2023)
Dance Chronicle, Executive Editor
Special Issue: "Interrogating Histories and Historicizing Dance Studies"