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MADC presents Collective Thread

MODArts Dance Collective (MADC) presents Collective Thread provides a voice and a platform for artistic self-impression to those women/womxn identifying choreographers of underrepresented ethnic groups within the medium of dance (African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, Native American [ALAANA], MENA, & SWANA). The goal of Collective Thread is to instill artists with the necessary tools to take on leadership roles in an effort to increase diversity, inclusion, and gender equality in the dance field. 

Rhoda Moise_Aseemkala Initiative

Haiti Speaks

Choreographed & Performed by: Rhoda Moise/Aseemkala Initiative

Pronouns: She/Her

Music: Imamou Lele by Boukman Eksperyans

Website: rhodamoise.com

Instagram Handle: @rhodamoise

 

Rhoda Moise, Ph.D., CYT empowers communities to live their healthiest lives as an internationally trained scientist, artist, and educator. She earned her B.S. in Biobehavioral Health from the Pennsylvania State University focusing on global chronic disease prevention and control. She also holds a Ph.D. in Prevention Science and Community Health from the University of Miami. Additionally, she completed a 200-hour certification to teach Ancient Egyptian yoga. She also serves as a community health and wellness connoisseur providing speaking, consulting, and training services in diverse settings including K-12 schools, colleges and universities, non-profits, and private workplaces in the U.S. and abroad.

 

What words do you embody as a person?

Authentic and adventurous!

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

I am most joyful when I feel alive and present in my body, mind, and spirit. I often find myself in that space while basking in sunlight on the beach or my garden or in nature at large, sitting in lotus pose on a yoga mat leading a meditation at the end of class, breaking bread with my family, and dancing to the beat of my heart's drum in my bedroom or before an audience.

 

Piece Description:

Dr. Rho's artistry serves as a channel to express the joys and pains of the human experience as well as inspire healing and synergy through honest humility. In this original piece, she embodies the trials and triumphs of Haiti, her home of heritage. She created this piece in celebration of her heritage as an Aseemkala Initiative Choreography Fellow and premiered it at the International Human Rights and Arts Festival 2021 at the Wild Project, NYC.

Kristina Diaz

"After the End"

Choreographed by: Tina Diaz in collaboration with Kar’mel Small and Lucia Tozzi, and Erik Osterkil

Pronouns: She/Her

Performed by: Lucia Tozzi and Erik Osterkil 

Music: “No Other Love” by Jo Stafford with Paul Weston & His Orchestra 

Instagram Handle: @__tinatinatina 

 

Tina Diaz, originally from New York, graduated with a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase in 2019. She was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award for her excellence in academics and artistry within the dance conservatory. In 2019, she made her professional debut performing an excerpt of Andrea Miller’s Blush at New York Live Arts. Her work titled "That Part of the Day When” was shown on the same bill. In the past year, Tina danced for Skyla Schreter in an evening length piece titled Loculamentum. And in 2021, she premiered her work titled "After the End" at Arts on Site. 

 

What words do you embody as a person?

Passionate, determined, generous, sensitive, kind, & thoughtful

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

Quality and authenticity

 

Piece Description:

“After the End” is an exploration of relationships. It seeks to showcase the good and bad that often exists in many of the relationships we inhabit. Whether that relationship is to ourselves, another human, or an entity…it is ever-changing and can never be defined in solely one way. 

Monica Shah

In the Strength of Stillness

Choreographed & Performed by: Monica Shah

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Music: N/A

Website: www.drmonicashah.com

Instagram Handle: @monshahdance 

Facebook: Monica Shah

Twitter Handle: @monshah

 

Monica Shah is an independent dance artist who performs in both classical and contemporary Indian dance styles. She has trained in Bharatanatyam for over 30 years, with complimentary work in diverse movement forms, and toured North America as a senior member of the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company for a decade.  Since then, she has performed as a soloist and guest artist in dance productions and festivals across Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and New York. Monica is also a licensed psychologist, providing therapeutic services across the age range and helping people build the lives that they want to lead.

 

What words do you embody as a person?

Curiosity, Compassion, & Commitment

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

These days, it’s the small things – a friendly exchange with a stranger, the way the light hits the trees, a song that makes me want to move – and savoring those experiences and that spark of joy.

 

Piece Description:

This piece examines the strength that lies in stillness. We live in a world that is constantly moving, and yet, in those moments of quiet is where we connect with our power. Through surrendering to stillness, we find a force within us that cannot be shaken.

Aika Takeshima & Sara Pizzi_sarAika

I Thought I Did It Right

(excerpt "L TRAIN")

Choreographed by: sarAika movement collective/Aika Takeshima & Sara Pizzi

Pronouns: She/Her

Performed by: Faustine Lavie, Mayu Nakaya, Haley Morgan Miller, Maitlin Jordan, Sara Pizzi, & Aika Takeshima

Music: No Time by MANOID, Self Control by Luke Hess

Website: https://saraikacreation.com

Instagram Handle: @saraikamovementcollective

 

sarAika is a movement collective based in New York since 2021, funded by Aika Takeshima and Sara Pizzi. sarAika is dedicated to making art about and for humans creating awareness and reflection on actual global social issues, breaking the concept of standard performance creating collaborative, conceptual, interactive art experiences. Their choreography is based on contemporary dance, partnering, floorwork, improvisation, storytelling, conceptual art and street style influences. sarAika premiered their first half evening length work “L TRAIN'' at Green Space, and minor projects for 7MPR, Dixon Place, The Craft, IKADA, JCAL, BAAD!, Movement Research, Dance Parade, SJAC, Creative Performances and more. 

 

What words do you embody as a person?

passionate, generous, straightforwardness, cooperativeness, & open innovation

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

When our art can make an impact on a human being, being able to create a safe place of reflection, create a bridge between artists and non-artists.

 

Piece Description:

I have spent a lot of time in my life learning through people's stories, books, experiences, environment, literally anything. I take notes, think, develop my knowledge and critical thought. When I make a decision, it always has to be made carefully considering everything I've learned. But what I thought I did right has made people around me feel bad many times...and also myself. How and when can I be correct?

Makayla Peterson_Monét Movement Productions_ The Collective

The Alchemist

Choreographed & Performed by: Makayla Peterson

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Vocals: Redemption- Written By Warsan Shire and Spoken By Beyonce; Denial- Written By Warsan Shire and Spoken By Beyonce

Website: www.mmpthecollective.org

Instagram Handle: @mmp.thecollective

Facebook: Monét Movement Productions: The Collective

 

Makayla Peterson is from Brooklyn, NY and a 2020 Temple University graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Digital Media Technologies. She is a dancer, choreographer, scholar, teaching artist and Founder & Artistic Director of Monét Movement Productions: The Collective (MMPTC). The mission of MMPTC is to create a body of works that embrace and proliferate Caribbean culture and the cultural values of Trinidad and Tobago through the continued representation and embodiment of the meaning of the colors in the flag through movement and storytelling. 

 

What words do you embody as a person?

As a person, some words I embody are authentic, resilient, moving with gratitude, humility, and optimism.

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

Some things that spark joy for me are dance and my Trinidadian culture. I always say that the purest and most true version of myself exists when I am on stage and participating in a cultural celebration or event (Carnival/J’ouvert). These spaces provide me with such a sense of belonging and allow me to be myself with no limitations. They provide me with an escape from reality and serve as another avenue to express myself.

 

Piece Description:

In ‘The Alchemist’ one witnesses the internal battle and struggle to heal from unspoken and unseen scars. By using alchemy, an unhealthy purging is transformed into a journey of finding the antidote. The antidote requires you to move away from things that no longer serve you. It is a process of making something out of nothing. As an alchemist, I am continuously creating this new path for myself as it is a constant process of evolution.

Megan Curet_Curet Performance Project

REPARATIONSinTENDER|

Repeat Part 2 

Choreographed & Performed by: Megan Curet

Pronouns: She/Her

Music: Grupo Afro Boricua/Los Pleneros de la Cresta/Lunar Plane

Website: megancuret.com

Instagram Handle: @megancuret 

Facebook: Curet Performance Project 

Megan Curet is a Bronx native dance educator, choreographer, and performer. Her work has been toured, taught and performed throughout Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.  Former founder of TiLLT Dance Magazine and Curet Performance Project contemporary dance company. Curet holds a BA in Dance and Theater Performance alongside an MA in Dance Studies, and is currently a PhD candidate at The University of Plymouth in the UK. Through decolonial dance practice Curet's practice-based research seeks to create a new approach to dance training through the cultural syncretism of bomba from Puerto Rico (her familial homeland) and North American contemporary dance.

 

What words do you embody as a person?

Resilience, Ancestry, & Strength

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

Community

 

Piece Description:

This work examines the amends we have been CONDITIONED to receive while creating space to shift the perspective unto those amends we DESERVE to receive. How does our tender nature make that possible? Repetition as a spiritual trigger must then trigger us to connect to what already exists within ourselves. Percussion, pulsations and rhythmic patterns...the original language we speak. REPARATIONSinTENDER|Repeat Part 2  deepens this examination through the use of text, audio, materials and mixed media. What are materials of memory? How are these memories passed on? Without these memories, how may we truly receive our reparations? 

Leah Tubbs_MODArts Dance Collective (MADC)

143 (excerpt)

Choreographed by: Leah Tubbs

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Performed by: Veronica Cheeseboro, Shoshana Mozlin, Sharayah Spruill, Courtney Stewart, Leah Tubbs, & Imani Vieira

Music: H.E.R. & Teyana Taylor, Iman

Website: www.modartsdance.com

Instagram & Twitter Handle: @modarts_dance 

Facebook: MODArts Dance Collective 

 

Leah Tubbs, a Birmingham, Alabama native & Harlem resident, studied dance at Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She has performed with various dance companies in Alabama, Ohio, California, Texas, and New York. MODArts Dance Collective (MADC), established in 2011 by Leah and Shaun Tubbs, holds space for BIPOC artists & communities through its choreographic work, festivals, concerts, residencies, & workshops.The mission of MADC is to to utilize movement as the catalyst to increase IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, & access) as a form of resistance & liberation for Black & Brown people nationwide. 

 

What words do you embody as a person?

I lean into calm, clear, and groundedness.

 

What or who sparks joy to/for you?

My husband, connecting with sister friends, celebrating my ancestors and elders by honoring everything they did to be where I am in the current moment, being in fellowship with community, and given the opportunity to move every day I am gifted just to name a few.

 

Piece Description:

143 (excerpts) celebrates BIPOC love as a form of resistance while engulfing radical joy to uplift and inspire the communities that MADC serves. 143 utilizes dance as a form of healing and reflects positive images of love in the BIPOC community. MADC’s overall goal for 143 is to provide an inclusive and accessible space for BIPOC communities and artists to feel seen and heard in a positive, uplifting manner while connecting to a broader audience.

Gratitude & Support​

MADC would like to thank our donors & Patreon supporters: Anonymous (3), Sharon Banks, Paul Brill, William-Michael Cooper, Zoe Correa, Mallory Creveling, Megan Curet, Lindi Duesenberg, Sherema Fleming, Joy Hanks, Sarah Horne, Bri Jenkins, Rachel Kuczynski, Karen & Brian Lowy, Jeffery Martin, Susan Mende, Leila Mire, Jessica Mosher, Sophie Parens, Tanya Patton, Joya Powell, Chatiera Ray, Tammeca Rochester, Nathaniel Rutledge, Harriette Smiley, Laronica Southerland, Charis Travlos, Laura Tubbs, & Monse Valdez.

MODArts Dance Collective is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible; EIN: 87-2210130. Please consider assisting us in continuing to be an agent of social change and amplifying BIPOC womxn voices through movement. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation, become a Patreon patron, purchase an item from MADC's Etsy shop, or discover other ways to support the company.

MADC’s Collective Thread Dance Festival is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC.

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© 2018 MODArts Dance Collective                                            ‪(929) 352-5253‬                                                  info@modartsdance.com

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