September 12, 2019
Kezia Florence is an inter-disciplinary designer who especially loves scenic design and props. Her design credits include Theatre Unbound, An Alleged Theatre Company, the University of Minnesota’s Department of Theatre Arts & Dance, and Hill-Murray High School. She is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota with an Inter-College Program Bachelor of Arts, with focuses in Theatre Design and Tech, Architectural Studies, and Interdisciplinary Design Studies. www.keziaflorencedesign.com
September 10, 2019
Sharon Bridgforth, a Doris Duke Performing Artist, is a writer that creates ritual/jazz theatre. A New Dramatists alumnae, Sharon has received support from Whitman Institute, Creative Capital, MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network. Her work has been featured at: New York’s SummerStage Festival; Rites and Reason Theatre’s Black Lavender Experience at Brown University and
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September 10, 2019
Founder & Executive Director of TruArtSpeaks, Tish Jones is a poet, performer, educator and organizer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has performed at CBGB, Kaplan Theater, The Walker Art Center, Intermedia Arts, The Cedar Cultural Center and more. Her work can be found in the Minnesota Humanities Center's anthology entitled, Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota (Minnesota Historical
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August 12, 2019
The polymathic Douglas R. Ewart has been honored for his work as a composer, improvising multi-instrumentalist, conceptual artist, sculptor, mask and instrument designer, builder and more. As an educator, Ewart bridges his kaleidoscopic activities with a vision that opposes today’s divided world by culture-fusing works that aim to restore the wholeness of communities and their members,
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August 12, 2019
PJ Roduta is a Pittsburgh-based percussionist whose work has centered around compelling dancers to dance since 2005. PJ earned a B.A. in music from Bennington College, completed a 4 month study abroad in percussion at the University of Ghana, and is currently pursuing his masters degree in teaching. Since 2007 PJ has been resident musician at The Space Upstairs, performed in 12
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July 19, 2018
Chelsea Warren is a multidisciplinary theater artist with a focus on scenic and puppet design with an equal interest in both traditional and devised creation processes. Her scenic design work includes Cleveland Play House, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Geva Theatre in Rochester NY, Milwaukee Rep, WaterTower Theatre in Dallas TX, About Face Theatre, Writer’s Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, A Red
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July 19, 2018
Dameun Strange is a sound artist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer whose conceptual chamber works, choral pieces, and operas are focused on stories of the African diaspora, often exploring afrofuturist themes. Strange is compelled to express through sound, music, and poetry, the beauty and resilience of the Black experience, digging into a pantheon of ancestors to tell stories of triumph while connecting the past, present, and future. His sound
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May 4, 2016
Andrea (Queen Drea) Reynolds, recipient of a 2017 Minnesota Emerging Composer Award administered by the American Composers Forum, is a vocalist, performance, and soundscape artist whose pieces are often conceived and created under the auspices of improvisational settings. Queen Drea has created work about depression in the Black community for Intermedia Arts, and about the
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February 21, 2016
Darren Johnson is proud to have collaborated with Ananya Dance Theater for more than 15 years, traveling from Kolkata to Maui with interdisciplinary projects. A writer and video producer whose work runs the gamut from documentary to experimental, he has tackled tough issues like implicit bias and diversity in the legal profession; aided and spotlighted innovation in the arts; and is currently producing a documentary about ADT, finishing a spoken word audiobook, and
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February 21, 2016
Annie Cady holds an MFA degree in Theatre Design and Technology from the University of Minnesota, and a BA in Theatre Arts from Simpson College. Her professional design credits include productions for Children’s Theatre Company, Normandale Community College, Commonweal Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Jungle Theatre, Black Label Movement, Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, AMP, and Threads Dance Company. http://www.anniecady.com/
February 20, 2016
Kevin A. Jones has worked in the professional dance and theater community for nearly 40 years. He was resident lighting designer and production manager for James Sewell Ballet for 20 years. His designs have illuminated internationally acclaimed ballets such as Moving Works, Barrage, Appalachia Waltz, Your Move, and Guy Noir: The Ballet. Jones designed for Minnesota Dance Theatre, CAAM Dance, SOLO, The McKnight Dance Fellows, and many
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March 8, 2015
Dr. Pooja Goswami Pavan is a Minneapolis-based performer, composer, teacher, and scholar of Hindustani (North Indian classical) vocal music. She received her early training in Hindustani classical vocal music from her father, Pandit Surendra Goswami, and later from Prof. Ajit Singh Paintal. Currently, she receives training in Khayal from her elder bother, Dr. Shailendra Goswami. Pooja earned a Ph.D. in
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March 8, 2015
Michelle Kinney, cellist, serves as Musician In Residence on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Dance Program. She holds a BA in cello performance, composition, and ethnomusicology/jazz studies from Northwestern University, and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. Michelle is a grateful recipient of a 2014 McKnight Fellowship in Composition and a MRAC Next Step Fund Award. Her career has also been supported by the Bush Foundation, American
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March 8, 2015
Greg Schutte is a composer, drummer, producer, and sound designer. As a touring drummer, Schutte currently plays with Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Ryan Bingham. He has performed nationally and internationally with a variety of other artists, including Chastity Brown, Todd Clouser's A Love Electric, The Hornheads, Jelloslave, Lori Line, Anthony Cox, Empire Brass, Chuchito Valdez, Bernard Allison, and more. He performed on
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