MN Black Theatre Circle and the Guthrie Partner for “Blackness Is…”

It really is been just about a 12 months to the date of George Floyd’s murder. Now MN Black Theatre Circle, a coalition of Black theater artists in the Twin Towns spanning generations, will present the streaming arts festival Blackness Is… in partnership with the Guthrie Theater. Though the 13 artists collaborating each individual arrive from unique backgrounds, they’ll all respond to the exact prompt: “What is Blackness?”

Past Oct, MN Black Theatre Circle and the Guthrie started presenting a regular monthly sequence of virtual performances by regional Black artists, which will culminate in the virtual competition. Showcasing theater, music, dance, poetry and spoken word, Blackness Is… grew out of the need “to middle, elevate and amplify the voices and protests of Minnesota Black theater artists,” and aims to build much more fairness and inclusion in the Guthrie. The 13 performances will be premiering on Youtube, and “honor the rich record and legacy of Black theater in the Twin Towns.”

The MN Black Theatre Circle started in August 2020, and includes founding members Vanessa Brooke Agnes, Domino D’Lorion, Willie E. Jones III, Austene Van, James A. Williams and Regina Marie Williams. The corporation will also offer you group workshops and Zoom talkbacks (for middle and significant university learners, six personal workshops ranging from spoken word to hip-hop will be out there on a to start with-arrive foundation). Also, four Twin Towns youth had been also picked as winners of a poetry contest, obtaining money prizes and the prospect to conduct their work all through the festival’s opening ceremonies.

“Our hearts and our ears are open as we perform to build pathways to therapeutic, empowerment and constructing a more robust group. We imagine that sharing representations of all elements of Black lifestyle is key to accomplishing this,” the MN Black Theatre Circle states in a press launch.

Watch a sneak peek and examine out the whole schedule beneath:

Friday, May perhaps 21 at 7:thirty p.m. CDT

• Opening Ceremony 
• Quiet As It is Kept (excerpts) by Deneane Richburg/Brownbody 
• Abiyamo (On Daughterhood) by Tolu Kehinde 
• In excess of My Head by Averie Mitchell-Brown
• With Adore From Washington by Denzel Belin

Saturday, May perhaps 22 at 7:thirty p.m. CDT

• Opening Ceremony 
• DOOMSCROLL with MK & Tia! by Ricardo Beaird 
• Colors of Classical Music All through HERstory by Stephanie Henry 
• Zen Is… by ZEN IS…
• Black Thread: A Tribute to Ann Lowe by Tiffany Cooper
• 21st Century Bomberas by Tearra Oso 

Sunday, May perhaps 23 at 7 p.m. CDT

• Opening Ceremony
• Greenwood 1964 by Mohammed Ali Ojarigi 
• Even now We Rise by Ashley DuBose
• The Matters That Bind by Nieya Amezquita
• Moments to Get there by Miko S. Simmons