Black Voices Boston Created in Colombia by Afro-Colombian dance company Sankofa Danzafro’s Artistic Director Rafael Palacios to keep his artists engaged during COVID-19 lockdowns, and to honor personal stories inspired by racial justice movements around the world, the BLACK VOICES project tapped Sankofa Danzafro’s company members’ ancestral roots to create works that connected stories of AfroColombian peoples to those of the African continent and its diaspora. Commissioned by Celebrity Series of Boston after the pandemic cancelled Sankofa Danzafro’s performance, BLACK VOICES began an international journey to create a body of work anchored by words and motion. It builds on ideals of social bonding, personal growth, and the positioning of local cultures in global dynamics during a time of restricted gathering, heightened social tensions over racial injustice, economic stress and a fraught election season. Dozens of participant applications were sent to Rafael Palacios, recounting stories of communities, traumas, social justice, marginalization, race, and learning and observation, with themes of determination, triumph, and hopefulness. The Black Voices Boston showcase shared seven dance vignettes of personal stories from seven participants from Boston’s Black communities and their journeys through the project. The stories, emotions, dances, and movements presented a narrative on racial and social justice, professional experiences, housing, Black history, and achievements and struggles of Boston’s Black communities. Celebrity Series is grateful to Cherié Butts, Ellice Patterson, Janaeya Moon-Sprinkle, Marlon Forrester, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Nina LaNegra, and Shirley Jones-Luke for their vulnerability and courage in sharing their stories, Akiba Abaka for her masterful narration and hosting of the artists’ post-performance Q&A, and Rafael Palacios for producing this project and allowing Celebrity Series and Greater Boston to take part. The Black Voices Boston project lived on demand on our website from December 6, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
BLACK VOICES BOSTON WAS SPONSORED BY
and 2020/21 DANCE SERIES SPONSORS Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, and Royal Little Family Foundation SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT IS PROVIDED BY the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative and by the National Endowment for the Arts through its CARES Act funds.
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