When:
November 8–10 at 7:30 p.m
Where:
Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
Editor’s Editor’s Note: Red Clay Dance Company is bringing the fruits of their latest collaboration with an African-born dance company to Chicago. Here, Picture this Post (PTP) backtracks and asks Red Clay Dance Company founder Vershawn Sanders-Ward (VSW) to talk about how this work came to be and more. Read her comments below.
(PTP) What inspired you to create Red Clay Dance Company and how did it get started?
(VSW) Red Clay Dance Company was conceived in 2007 while I was on my first trip to Africa--Senegal to be exact. During this trip, I was fascinated by the interconnectedness of dance and everyday life and wanted to incorporate this philosophy into my company.
The name Red Clay comes from my childhood memories of playing in red earth during my summers spent in Mobile, AL, my birthplace and home for both of my parents. I would play in the red earth, adding water to it, to make all sorts of things. This mixture was like clay, something my hands could work and mold into something spectacular.
Unfortunately playing in the red dirt got me in a lot of trouble, because once it’s on your clothes, it never comes off!
I decided that I wanted my work to stick with my audience in this way... I don’t want the experience to fade or rub off, but to be forever intertwined into their life experience and memories.
Have you had collaborations similar to this one with Kelga Dance before?
No, this is our first international company collaboration. Jonas Byaruhanga, the Artistic Director of Keiga Dance Company and I met in Senegal. We were both attending a dance training program there at École de Sables. After this meeting Jonas invited me to perform in his Dance Transmission Festival in 2010, and while there we started working on a duet. This was the spark to the idea of our companies coming together and the foundation for the collaboration.
What is your background as a choreographer?
I am an artivist….a movement artivist. An artivist is an individual who utilizes their artistic genius to ignite a social revolution by creatively using the body and movement as tools to gain personal and collective freedom.
I am motivated by the belief that building a more equitable society begins with the ability for every individual in that society to acquire the social capital needed to thrive. Social capital is often achieved through cultural experiences. Shared intercultural experiences can begin the dialogue needed to build an equitable ociety.
My experience with movement began at family parties and jumping double dutch with my cousins, climbing trees and playing tag. My formal training started around age 6-7, and continued at Columbia College Chicago (BFA) and New York University (MFA).
When was the first time you traveled to Uganda? How has the country changed since then? How has the US changed since then in ways that impact your collaboration?
I traveled to Uganda in November 2010. The cost and process to get visas for artists from Africa is treacherous. It is very costly and requires so-o-o much documentation. The issues with immigration in this country and other places in Europe threatened this project many times—as recent as a few weeks ago.
It is not just a US issue, but a global issue. It almost makes one not want to go through the trouble. But when you see these artists together in the space, making and sharing and growing and learning and expanding their artistry together—it makes all the sleepless nights worth it!
Will this piece be performed in Africa as well?
Yes, we hope to premiere it in Uganda first in Spring 2019, and are also very hopeful to tour it in other US Cities, African countries and maybe Asia.
Can you describe your collaborative process?
The collaborative process has been engaging, vulnerable, sometimes inconsistent, ever- changing, and all about negotiations, being the support when needed, but feeling supported also when ideas are not poppin’. This collaboration has developed a deeper commitment to empathy, patience, deep listening, and courage. We give when we have and we receive when we are empty.
I am truly grateful for Jonas and the artivists of Red Clay Dance and Keiga Dance companies—tremendously grateful!
Tickets:
$30 (student and senior discounts available)
A special November 10 performance and post-show
Tukwaniriza fundraiser reception is being held with tickets of $100.
All performance tickets are available by calling 312-369-8330 or on the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago webpage
Photos courtesy of Red Clay Dance Company
