EVENTS
Anna Martine Whitehead’s S P R E A D
Recent Events
2021 Midwest RAD Fest: West African Dance Workshop w/ T. Ayo Alston
2020/22 Daring Dances Artist-in-Residence ,T. Ayo Alston, teaches a West African Dance Workshop in RAD Fest's 2021 Movement-Based Master Class series.
MARCH 6, 2021
Watch Party & Discussion: Gabrielle McLeod, Detroit's 'Queen of Jit' w/ Clare Croft & J'Sun Howard
Daring Dances and the Center for World Performance Studies team up to premiere two short videos featuring acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Gabrielle McLeod, Detroit's 'Queen of Jit'
FEBRURARY 25, 2021
2019-2020 Artist-in-Residence (Part 1):
Leila Awadallah
During her residency, Leila Awadallah begins to codify a specific letter-to-movement relationship for her developing dance language rooted in the study of embodied Arabic calligraphy. Joined by her collaborator, Palestinian-American visual artist Lamia Abukhadra, they will activate bodied Arabic calligraphy to investigate how it speaks to conversations surrounding diaspora Palestinian-American identity.
Learn more about Leila's work as Artist-in-Residence.
August 23-29, 2019
EXPLODE! queer dance: Midwest
This festival is sponsored by and runs co-currently with the Annual Conference of the Dance Studies Association.
August 8-11, 2019
Upcoming Events
T. Ayo Alston Teaching in Detroit
March 5-6, 2022
Andy Arts 3000 Fenkell Ave, Detroit MI 48238
Daring Dances 2020/22 artist-in-residence, T. Ayo Alston will teach West African dance in Rule of III: Chicago in Detroit hosted by TéMaTé Institute for Black Dance and Culture. The workshop features three instructors and three dance styles over two days. All levels welcome (no dance experience necessary) and masks are required!
More information & registration HERE
T. Ayo Alston in Residence at UM
Daring Dances 2020/22 artist-in-residence
March 7-13, 2022
T. Ayo Alston comes to Ann Arbor for a week of guest teaching, panel conversations and performance. While in residence, Alston will build upon a past work, Femme DeLa Force: Herstory to Tell (2014) and HerStory II Tell: Inside her Eyes (2020), using West African dance styles to tell the story of women warriors who have successfully and/or powerfully challenged systems, governments and male dominated conquerors to maintain their land, integrity or their people. Learn more about the residency HERE
West African Dance and Drum: Community, Identity, Storytelling
Thursday, March 10, 2022 4:30 - 5:30pm
University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA)
Join Daring Dances artist-in-residence, T. Ayo Alston–founder and director of Chicago-based Ayodele Drum and Dance–with guest speakers from the Detroit West African community, Ajara Alghali and Crettia Hunter, as well as University of Pennsylvania dance scholar Dr. Jasmine Johnson, as the group discusses what it means to make dance from a West African perspective while also centering the voices and experiences of women.
This event is FREE and open to the public. Face masks are required and a fast ResponsiBLUE Health Questionnaire will be conducted upon entry. More info HERE
Guinea Sweet Suite
T. Ayo Alston/Ayodele Drum & Dance Performance at the Keene Theater
Saturday, March 12, 2022 7:00 - 8:30pm
East Quad, 701 E. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1245
Live-stream link HERE
T. Ayo Alston concludes her Daring Dances residency with a culminating performance featuring Ayodele Drum and Dance at the Keene Theater. This event is FREE and open to the public. Proof of vaccination, Photo ID, Face Covering and a fast ResponsiBLUE Health Questionnaire are required for entry to the Keene Theater. A post-show discussion will take place after the performance.
2022 Daring Dances Artist-In-Residency programming was supported by University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD), Department of American Culture, Center for World Performance Studies (CWPS), National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID), University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), TéMáTé Institute for Black Dance and Culture and King-Chávez-Parks Visiting Professor Program.