Liberating Bodies: What Lies Beneath 

A movement workshop with jose e. abad & Stephanie Hewett

Presented by Bridge Live Arts,  Curated by Cherie Hill

Friday, April 7, 12:00 - 2:00 PM PST, In-Person @ Shawl-Anderson Dance Center

“The place to begin the all-important healing of trauma is with the body. Your body. Each of our bodies.” - Resma Menakem

How are Black artists working with communities to heal and liberate the body? What rituals are being placed to weave ancestral memory with present-day lineage? Join Bridge Live Arts for dialogue and movement workshops with Black Diaspora dance artists working between the nuances of sites, sound, community, and embodiment.

ABOUT

This workshop will explore artistic practices of adaptation, transgression, and innovation as tools of ancestral survival strategies. Utilizing somatic and improvisational techniques, we will investigate the ways our bodies hold information and how our movements support our exploration of the body as a site of resilience. We will also look at the evolution of Black musical forms as guides towards emancipation and freedom - continually hybridizing and innovating - as we move through Afro-diasporic genres, including blues, jazz, and techno.

• jose e. abad is a multidisciplinary performance artist, DJ, and curator based in unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Territory. Born in Olongapo City, Philippines to a Filipina Mother and an Afro-Carribean U.S. Naval Soldier, their work explores the complexities of cultural identity at the crossroads of gender, sexuality, class, and race in the United States. Through dance theater, manipulated video, and sonic experimentation, they unearth lost histories that reside in the body, that the mind has forgotten and dominant culture has erased. abad has worked with established choreographers, including Anne Bluethenthal, Alleluia Panis, Brontez Purnell, NAKA Dance Theater, Erika Chong Shuch, Joanna Haigood, Keith Hennessy, Larry Arrington, Sara Shelton Mann, Seth Eisen, and many others. They have held residencies and produced work with organizations including CounterPulse, the Joe Goode Annex, Paul Dresher Studio, Highways Performance Space and Hope Mohr Dance. Additionally, they have taught and performed nationally and internationally in the Philippines, Mexico, Canada, and Europe.

• Stephanie Hewett (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist from the Bronx, New York (Lenapehoking territory) currently residing in Oakland, CA (Ohlone-Chochenyo territory).  They hold an MFA in Dance Studies and use both music and movement to access pathways towards liberation rooted in spiritual, physical, and sonic defense. Hewett DJ's and produces electronic music under the moniker, Madre Guía. Their Afro-Caribbean roots guide them towards polyrhythmic potentialities of intergenerational healing.

TICKET PRICES

$10 - $50 sliding scale

BIPOC Subsidy: As part of Liberating Bodies, we are providing ten subsidies to participants that identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or as People of Color (BIPOC). Each subsidy allows someone to register for both workshops for only $10. Please email admin@bridgelivearts.org to access this support.

NOTAFLOF: If you are not able to afford the lowest ticket price but would still like to attend, please email admin@bridgelivearts.org.

Photo of Stephanie Hewett & jose abad, courtesy of the artists.