Shows and Events

Previous events

The GEM Project Initiative

Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI

Event Description: Acknowledging the huge need for arts and mentoring for young girls of color, The Gem Project is an interdisciplinary arts and community engagement initiative that fuses dance, art, film & media, theater, and mentoring to cultivate an atmosphere of healing and problem-solving for young girls ages 10-18.

The Gem Project consists of 3, 1-hour workshops in dance and art making. Following the art and movement classes, lunch will be provided to the participants and accompanied by a facilitated group discussion about mental wellness lead by Shalina Ali of Art of Coping. The event will finish with a 20 minute dance showing by contemporary dance performers and a short talkback with the artists will follow.

Gem Teaching Artists: Hip Hop - Jessica "JWoo" Woolridge African Dance - Prince Adrean Visual Art - Letasha Smith of Noah’s Art MKE

The Gem Project Itinerary: 8:30am - 9:00am Check in for students at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center 9am - 9:55am Class # 1 (Hip Hop, African, or Visual Art) 10am - 10:55am Class # 2 (Hip Hop, African, or Visual Art) 11am - 11:55am Class # 3 (Hip Hop, African, or Visual Art) 12pm - 1pm Lunch and Discussion lead by Shalina Ali of Art of Coping 1pm - 1:45pm Contemporary Dance showing and Discussion to follow 1:45pm - 2pm Student Pickup from Milwaukee Youth Arts Center

Restore Arts Festival

Danceworks , Milwaukee, WI

After founder Jade Charon was awarded the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship from Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2018, she was inspired to research healing spaces for black women through dance and cinema. Acknowledging the lack of black female professors in her academic experience, she wanted to curate an intimate performance space that could birth connections between seasoned and emerging women of color choreographers to provide support.

Restore Arts Festival was designed to create a space for women of color artists to showcase their artistic projects. This interdisciplinary program of dance and film, specifically invites women of color choreographers and dance filmmakers to submit proposals of original works and dance films rooted in activism, ministry, and social justice. By Jade Charon provides artistic development support by inviting a panel of professional choreographers to provide feedback and mentorship to choreographers post showcase to push artists’ work forward. Artists receive photography and video documentation of performance. Each performance culminates with a talkback and facilitated conversation between choreographers and audiences to create strategies of art and healing in the communities. Show duration: 50 minutes + 20 minute talkback

Word. Sound. Power

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BAM Fisher, Brooklyn

Pronounced “AH-SHAY”, this Yoruba philosophy weaves together BAM’s electrifying annual showcase of hip-hop and spoken word, hosted by MC Baba Israel and featuring choreographer Jade Charon. We welcome emcees Dizzy SenZe and Freakquencee, poet Drew Drake, and musician AMYRA to the stage, as they draw energy from one another for a night of collective power and music to leave you fired up.

EAT LITTLE AND LIVE LONG

“Eat Little and Live Long” - the title of the program and menu comes out of Caribbean culture and “the yard” as both home and as a focal point for community gathering, culture-raising, and social development.

DANCE FILM NIGHTS

Join us this Summer in the backyard of Venn Cowork for Dance Film Nights, a series of screenings and discussions focused on dance on screen, presented by CreateART and hosted by Venn. Each event will feature 3 short films, conversations with their creators, and complimentary wine.

Guest Lecturer and Workshop

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Santa Rosa College

This workshop looks at the history and cultural connections of Gold Hoop earrings from Africa to the streets of Black and Brown neighborhoods in America. Students will screen the movie Gold, observe a PowerPoint presentation, and be lead through a dance movement-based workshop that explores the reclamation of power using dance as resistance. The class will culminate with discussion and unison, reciting positive affirmations.