95 Empire Street
Hey AS220 Community! There’s a guest artist show coming to Providence next week! This performance is free and open to the public. Please join us for what will be a night of inspiration and great art-making! June 22nd @ 5pm is a date for your calendar!
Vershawn Ward : #SayHerName
Guest artist Vershawn Ward will be performing #SayHerName in Collaboration with work from AS220 Youth at AS220’s Black Box Theater on June 22nd at 5:00pm. The evening starts off with a bang, with a performance of Chicago based artist Ward’s new solo #SayHerName, followed by a brief presentation of choreography by Ward set onto member’s of AS220’s Youth Program. Chicago-based choreographer, Vershawn Ward’s riveting new solo work, #SAYHERNAME, examines the criminalization of female black activists Angela Davis and Assata Shakur and draws parallels to the present day arrest and subsequent death of Sandra Bland. The solo dancer finds herself inside a confined space, both physically inside a “prison cell, and mentally bound by her condition and loss of POWER. The work illuminates the struggle these women faced to continue fighting for agency and the liberation of their own bodies.
AS220 Youth Spring Showcase: “Futureworlds Revolution”
AS220 Youth’s End of Spring Showcase is here! This showcase is the large display of the hard work and talent that comprises AS220 Youth. The Showcase will feature performances as well as an in depth look at the programs and learning opportunities that exist at AS220 Youth. Over the past 3 months, young people have been working on “Futureworlds: Revolution ”: AS220 Youth’s FIRST EVER Hip Hop Theater Fashion Show which will be premiering on September 9th and 10th at the Pell Chafee Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
An In-depth look at Guest Artist Vershawn Ward:
Vershawn Ward, choreographer, performer, and dance scholar, is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Red Clay Dance Company based in Chicago, IL. Ward holds a MFA in Dance from New York University and the first recipient of a BFA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been presented at festivals around the world. She is a 2013 3Arts awardee and in 2016 she was selected by NewCity Magazine as one of the “Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago”. Her Afro-contemporary dance company performs and teaches on Chicago’ South Side, with the intention of bringing socially conscious performances and dance education to underserved communities. Vershawn has served as an adjunct faculty member and facilitated residencies both nationally and internationally. She curates La Femme: a bi-annual, four-day festival presented in March in celebration of Women’s History Month and also directs the annual Dance4Peace Youth Concert & Community Hug Awards, one of the few non-competitive teen dance festivals in the Chicago.
AS220’s Artist in Residency Program houses an artist for either 2 weeks or a month who comes in to create their work at AS220. The artists make use of AS220’s facilities and share their work with the community, inspiring conversation and innovation throughout the city.