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Artistic Direction and Concept: Davalois Fearon
Choreography: Davalois Fearon Choreography Assistant: Careitha Davis Dancer: Davalois Fearon Audience Plants: Careitha Davis, Caleb Dowden, Danion Lewis, and Tess Montoya Rehearsal Director: Tess Montoya |
Music: Compilation of Kumina, Doundounba, Congolese, Ska, Reggae, and Dancehall and music composed by Davalois Fearon and Mike Michael McGinnis
Musicians: Michael McGinnis (Clarinet, Saxophone), Rasaan Green (Drum), Ryan Greenidge (Drum), Agyei Phillip (Drum) |
PLG Arts presents, in collaboration with Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD), Music and Dance at Parkside Plaza. The event will be an outdoor, block party-style event that celebrates the rich Caribbean heritage of Flatbush/ Prospect-Lefferts Gardens (PLG) and the growing community of local artists. The event will feature live drumming by Ryan Greenidge, Agyei Phillip, and Rasaan Green, the music of composer and woodwind player Mike McGinnis, Dancehall, and Reggae music facilitated by D.J. Ayanna Heaven, and a site-specific performance of Finding Herstory and community dance-along led by Davalois Fearon.
Finding Herstory is a dance performance created and performed by Davalois Fearon with the assistance of Careitha Davis, founder of BodyRa, which seeks to connect the mind, body, and spirit through Caribbean movement. It is commissioned by the Stephen Petronio Company for the 2021 Bloodlines(future) Program. It is inspired by Africanist forms such as reggae/dancehall that have contributed to the American dance landscape and shaped Fearon as an artist.
This performance is presented by PLG Arts, which promotes and presents the arts for the benefit of residents of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and surrounding neighborhoods, with funding from the Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Fund and Green Arts/LIVE NYC.
Photo by Jaqlin Medlock
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Davalois Fearon, a 2017 Bessie awardee and a 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow finalist, is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and educator. Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, her choreography is said to embody a “tenacious virtuosity” honed over 12 years with the Stephen Petronio Company (2005–2017) and now reflected in her work as founder and director of Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD). Established in 2016, DFD pushes artistic and social boundaries to highlight injustice and inequality and spark vital conversations about change. Fearon’s work has been presented nationally and internationally, including at New York City venues such as the Joyce Theatre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among many others, she has completed commissions for the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Barnard College. Her abundant honors and awards include DanceNYC’s Dance Advancement Fund Award, and grants from the MAP Fund and the Howard Gilman Foundation. www.davaloisfearon.com
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Photo by Peter Gannushkin
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Saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Mike McGinnis is a musical explorer unbound by stylistic barriers; unwaveringly individual, curious, and open-minded. He has released five critically acclaimed albums as a leader during his twenty-two years in the NYC jazz scene. In April of 2017 and 2018, he performed to sold-out houses at the world-famous Jazz Standard in NYC, leading a trio with jazz legends Art Lande and Steve Swallow. As musical director of the Davalois Fearon Dance Company, he has performed his compositions at the Joyce Theater, New Victory Theater, City Center, Metropolitan Museum, Harlem Stage, Rubin Museum, Bronx Museum, and was the recipient of a 2019 MAP Fund Grant. For four consecutive years, he has been listed in the Clarinet “Rising Star” category by the DownBeat Magazine International Critics Poll.
www.mikemcginnis.com |
Photo courtesy of Ayanna Heaven
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Ayanna Heaven is a DJ, Radio, and Event Producer living in Brooklyn, NY. She spent her childhood in her native St. Mary, Jamaica in the golden age of Jamaican Dancehall of the 1990s, followed by ten years in Atlanta, Georgia at the apex of Southern hip-hop. She moved to New York City in 2010 to pursue studies in Ethnomusicology at The New School.
She can be heard weekly playing soul and funk on WKCR's long-running "Across 110th Street" program, as well as monthly on her show "Sounds of Heaven" on The Lot Radio. Her first regular broadcast platform was the Power of Reggae radio show. She has played at venues across New York City, including Elsewhere Space, Nowadays, Public Records, Lovers Rock, The Delancey and events including Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk. She recently performed in London, UK with Rockers London and Dubwise Jamaica. She has performed in Jamaica at Miss Lily's at The Skylark in Negril. With sets ranging from roots and rocksteady reggae, to afrobeats, hip-hop, dancehall, and funk, she brings a passion and the cachet of a diverse background to her DJ aesthetic and event curation. She recently launched Doing It In The Park at Brooklyn's new Under The K Bridge Park in September 2021. |
Photo by Luisanna Tejada
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Careitha Davis, a Brooklyn native with roots in Trinidad and Tobago, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator. From an early age, Careitha started training as a dancer in Modern, Jazz, Ballet, and African while traveling as a young performer. Careitha attended SUNY Purchase College, receiving a BA in Media, Society & the Arts, and earned an MA in Dance Education K-12 Track from New York University where she practiced methods in instructing non-dancers and young learners as a practice for community building and creating art. She has performed the works of George Faison, Dianne McIntyre, Ronald K. Brown, Mouminatou Camara, Joya Powell/Movement of the People, and Jemal Gaines. Careitha began teaching Soca at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance in 2018 and established BodyRa Movement in 2020. Her teaching and choreographic philosophy for BodyRa Movement is for dancers to reach a level of freedom in their movement, building community through the rituals and traditions in Caribbean culture. In 2020 and 2021, BodyRa Movement has been granted the Downtown Brooklyn Rehearsal Residency Initiative, and 2021 premiered ‘Trinidad Noir,’ a choreographed piece highlighting the cultural traditions of Trinidad and Tobago, at Spoke The Hub: Local Produce Mini Festival.
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Percussionist and Composer Rasaan ‘Talu’ Green performances include ones with Fela! on Broadway, the Brooklyn Nets, Soutsatzka the Musical, and MAZE, along with band collaborations with Ms. Patti Labelle, Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Roots, Aloe Blacc, Estelle, & H.E.R. Green has performed globally in Africa, North America, Australia & New Zealand, and Europe. He is a resident musician with Resura Arkestra and provides musical arrangements for dance companies and master workshops throughout New York City. He holds a BFA in music from Long Island University. |
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Ryan Greenidge is an accomplished drummer who has toured with professional dance companies as Djoule African, Ayolawa, Kowteff. and Asase Yaa throughout his career. He currently drums with Asase Yaa and makes annual trips to Guinea West Africa to enhance his skills and talents. Ryan has performed throughout the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and the United States. He has a true passion for drumming and enjoys teaching in his spare time. Having been introduced to drumming at a very young age, Ryan is excited to share his experiences and knowledge about drumming, which is grounded in African tradition and culture, and its relevance to dance and music globally. Ryan currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and raised. |
Trincity Photos
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Ayegi Phillip |
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Danion Lewis, originally from Brooklyn, New York, received his conservatory dance training from SUNY Purchase, New York. In addition to performing numerous dance works by Candice Michelle Franklin prior to Jazz Ain't Dead, he has performed in several hip hop shows, industrials, and music videos, including a video for Estelle for BET Jazz and as a main background dancer for SHAKTI. Moreover, his image has been seen on tall skyscrapers and bus shelters for the new national print campaign for iPod.
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Tess Montoya was raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she began her training at the National Dance Institute of New Mexico. She graduated from Point Park University with a Bachelor of Arts in dance. Since moving to New York, Montoya has worked with Megan Kendzior, Daniel Gwirtzman, Daniel Roberts, and Alexandria Giroux. She has taken part in multiple workshops and performances through the Merce Cunningham Trust Fellowship Program. She joined Stephen Petronio Company in 2015 and is Director of the Company’s Education Program. Tess is currently General Manager with Davalois Fearon Dance and has been working with the company since 2016. |
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Caleb Dowden is a choreographer, researcher and dance artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Additionally, she is the Artistic Director of Dow-Dance, a research based African American dance company. She is the recent recipient of a Fulbright Award in the Creative and Performing Arts to conduct research in Benin, West Africa for the 2021-2022 academic year. As a result of her experiences in Africa and Asia, Ms. Dowden’s work is a mixture of different influences that are rooted in rhythm and a deep understanding of how the body moves with history. She holds a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase where she performed works by Josè Limon, Martha Graham, Rena Butler and Maiya Redding.
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Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD), founded in 2016 by critically acclaimed dancer and choreographer Davalois Fearon, presents multidisciplinary works that push artistic and social boundaries and cultivate the next generation of dance artists. Fearon’s diverse movement vocabulary hailed for its “tenacious virtuosity” is coupled with the work of creators such as composer/clarinetist/saxophonist Mike McGinnis, interdisciplinary artist André M. Zachery, and visual artist Jasmina Murrell in collaborative pieces that educate audiences and spark vital conversations about change. Forced to cancel performances when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, DFD developed innovative alternatives – such as the DFD Virtual Theater – to support rising artists and continue engaging in meaningful dialog on justice and equality. The Virtual Theater is now a forum for commissioned new works and educational, social, and cultural initiatives. It also features the Time to Talk series, in which renowned guests join Fearon to discuss race and racism.
The mission of Stephen Petronio Company (SPC) is to support the vision of choreographer Stephen Petronio, which includes the creation and presentation of his existing and new works, alongside legacy initiatives meant to preserve the history of postmodern dance lineage, while also advancing its future through new works that honor and extend the history and offer a platform for a greater inclusivity of artistic voices. SPC was founded in 1984 to support the creative work of modern dance choreographer Stephen Petronio. The incredible milestone of the 25th anniversary of the Company in 2009 catalyzed Stephen to explore how SPC could expand from a single-choreographer model dance company to also honor the past, present, and future in the field of dance through the Bloodlines initiatives (residency programs and re-staging of important postmodern works) designed to amplify and complement Petronio’s original mission.
The mission of Stephen Petronio Company (SPC) is to support the vision of choreographer Stephen Petronio, which includes the creation and presentation of his existing and new works, alongside legacy initiatives meant to preserve the history of postmodern dance lineage, while also advancing its future through new works that honor and extend the history and offer a platform for a greater inclusivity of artistic voices. SPC was founded in 1984 to support the creative work of modern dance choreographer Stephen Petronio. The incredible milestone of the 25th anniversary of the Company in 2009 catalyzed Stephen to explore how SPC could expand from a single-choreographer model dance company to also honor the past, present, and future in the field of dance through the Bloodlines initiatives (residency programs and re-staging of important postmodern works) designed to amplify and complement Petronio’s original mission.
This event was made possible, in part, by funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Brooklyn Arts Council, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Green/Arts LIVE NYC. GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC is made possible with support from New York Community Trust and Con Edison’s Arts Al Fresco Series, administered by City Parks Foundation in collaboration with the Horticultural Society of New York, New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, NYC Department of Transportation, OpenCultureWORKS, and Street Lab. It was produced collaboratively by PLG Arts and Davalois Fearon Dance (DFD). In addition, this program is supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, the Dance/NYC's Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation Performing Artist Recovery Fund in The New York Community Trust. Finding Herstory is commissioned by the Stephen Petronio Company for the 2021 Bloodlines(future) Program, made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with support from Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. DFD is fiscally sponsored by Foundation for Independent Artists, Inc., a non-profit organization administered by Pentacle (DanceWorks, Inc.). Pentacle is a non-profit management support organization for the performing arts. www.pentacle.org
