Celebrate Black History Month with ANEW
Join the U School of Dance this February at ANEW: A Black History Month Celebration. This exciting concert will feature a re-staging of Fever Dream by choreographer Joshua Whitehead, two new works choreographed on U Dance students by choreographers Adesola Akinleye and Natosha Washington, and two Screendance films by filmmaker Irishia Hubbard Romaine.
The concert will begin by a new work by interdisciplinary artist-scholar and choreographer Adesola Akinleye titled Sycorax’s Tempest, which reimagines William Shakespeare’s The Tempest through the eyes of Sycorax—a figure Shakespeare likely crafted from the haunting legacy of a real Black woman made pregnant and abandoned nine months later on an island by Sir Francis Drake in the late 1500s. In Akinleye’s ballet, Sycorax is no longer positioned in the story as an unseen dead character. Rather, Sycorax becomes the embodiment of the island’s sovereign soul, rising from the refuge of the sea to shape the fate of her child, Caliban, and free the island from those who have claimed it.
Natosha Washington is an educator and choreographer, as well as a distinguished alum, who uses her work to advocate for inclusivity and strong communities. Her new work Towards Light is no exception. Talking about the themes of the piece, Washington stated, “Too often we let fear of the unknown and uncertainty dictate how we choose to navigate the world. Embrace all that is beautifully and imperfectly you. Never dim your light.”
Interspersed in the concert will be two short films by Irishia Hubbard Romaine. First is Unearthed, a 16mm film that uses historical footage interspersed with dance, breathing new life into forgotten narratives. Next is Red Line, which examines the resilience of a Black woman in the face of allostatic load.
The concert will close with Fever Dream by Joshua Whitehead, which premiered in 2022 at Ballet West Academy for the ArtEmotion workshop. This emotionally rich work allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions, and is set to an original composition by Whitehead.
ANEW: A Black History Month Celebration runs February 13th through February 23 at the Marriott Center for Dance. Tickets can be purchased in advance at artstickets.utah.edu or at the door. University of Utah students get free access with their student ID thanks to the Arts Pass program, which makes hundreds of arts experiences accessible to U students each year.
Performance Dates:
Feb. 13 | 5:30pm*
Feb. 14 | 7:30pm*
Feb. 15 | 2:00pm* & 7:30pm*
Feb. 20 | 5:30pm
Feb. 21 | 7:30pm
Feb. 22 | 2:00pm & 7:30pm
*these performances will be live-streamed