Black Arts Movement: Examined

Diverse Artists. Transformative Art.

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FROM THE ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/ CURATOR-IN-RESIDENCE Over the course of the 2022/2023 Season, Harlem Stage examines the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s to the 1970s, and its relationship to race, gender, sexuality, music, photography, film, poetry, theater, and dance, as well as its intersectionality with the larger Black Power Movement. Harlem Stage also intends to raise key questions that remain relevant to artistic production: what is the relationship between art and politics and what is the role of the politically conscious artist?

Harlem Stage will convene seven programs, culminating in a spring conference and concert, paying tribute to the groundbreaking writers, poets, visual artists, musicians, and intellectuals who attempted to situate their work within the political, economic, social, historical, and artistic context of Black Americans. Employing roundtables, public dialogues, and screenings, Harlem Stage also intends to explore controversial areas of tension between the intellectual, ethical, and commercial imperatives of the Black Arts Movement, its scholarship, and the professional demands many of its leaders (given the constraints, and disparate doctrinal paths of debate, within its institutional academy) imposed upon artists, and whether or not the Black Arts Movement’s libertarian, racism-countering goals were ever truly achieved.

Employing “conversations” between highly esteemed sovereigns of the Black Arts Movement and a contemporary generation of artists, Black Arts Movement: Examined centers itself within a dialogue that is both historically and culturally relevant in the ever-changing present world.

Carl Hancock Rux Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence

Photo (left) by Kwame Brathwaite. Photo of Carl Hancock Rux by Felicia Megginson.

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FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO When Carl Hancock Rux and I first started discussing his joining the staff of Harlem Stage as our Associate Artistic Director and Curator-in-Residence, our conversations centered on how a practicing artist with an active career would be able to adjust to the various responsibilities associated with the running of an arts organization. More significantly we talked about curatorial processes involving the design and implementation of our programs within the context of a team. Even before we sealed the deal for his engagement, made possible through the generosity of the Mellon Foundation, Carl, who had presented his art at Harlem Stage for over 30 years, was brimming with ideas. Certainly something that I should have expected, but when one of his many ideas was to propose a yearlong series of programs examining the Black Arts Movement, I was deeply moved and inspired.

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Essentially, I cut my teeth in performance and administration as a participant in the Black Arts Movement almost accidentally as the young partner of the artist, Emilio Cruz, who reluctantly left a career in the NY art world to join the Black Arts Group (BAG) in St. Louis. It was life-changing in many unexpected ways. We were suddenly in the center of an amazing group of artists and activists who mixed their dedication to creative work with the idea of building and transforming community, confronting the social and political strictures that reinforced racist oppression. In part as a response to the Civil Rights movement of the ’60s, we marched, we protested, and we created art meant to respond to and challenge the status quo. Carl and I spent many hours discussing the parallels between those times 50 years ago to the police killings of Black men, women, and children and the continued oppression that inspires the Black Lives Matter movement of today. The ultimate parallel is the creative response of contemporary artists, looking back and creating forward.

Cycles abound sometimes more quickly than we can record or absorb. The point of the series that Carl has conceived, and programmed collaboratively with myself, Managing Director Eric Oberstein, and Programming Manager Yunie Mojica, is not only to absorb, but it is also to examine, to expand our understanding, to learn from the past through the lens of transformative art.

As an organization that sits proudly at the intersection of art and social justice, this examination of an arts movement born out of resistance exemplifies the mission of Harlem Stage. I hope that you will join us and participate with us in this examination.

Pat Cruz Artistic Director & CEO

Photos (bottom left and top) by Kwame Brathwaite. Photo of Pat Cruz courtesy of The HistoryMakers.

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ABOUT US

Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas.

For nearly 40 years Harlem Stage has stood proudly at the intersection of art and social justice with a singular mission to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.

We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.

With a long-standing tradition of supporting artists and organizations around the corner and across the globe, Harlem Stage boasts such legendary artists as Harry Belafonte, Max Roach, Sekou Sundiata, Abbey Lincoln, 5

Sonia Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, Maya Angelou, and Tito Puente, as well as contemporary artists like Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh, Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Tamar-kali, Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jason Moran, José James, Craig Harris, Nona Hendryx, Bill T. Jones, and more. Our education programs serve over 2,300 New York City school children each year.

The New York Times has hailed Harlem Stage as “an invaluable incubator of talent” and we have been recognized as an organization still unafraid to take risks. Our investment in this visionary talent is often rewarded in the early stages of many artists’ careers and we proudly celebrate their increasing success.

Five members of our artist family have joined the ranks of MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship awardees: Kyle Abraham (2013), Vijay Iyer (2013), Jason Moran (2010), Bill T. Jones (1994), and Cecil Taylor (1991).

Harlem Stage is a winner of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming.

CALENDAR

The Black Arts Movement: Examined series and conference have been made possible by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation.

FRI – SAT, OCTOBER 14 – 15 7:30PM | $25 / 15

THU – SAT, APRIL 13 – 15 7:30PM | $35 / $25

PART I: INTRODUCTION

PART VI: DANCE

FRI, NOVEMBER 11 7:30PM | $25 / $15

THU – SAT, MAY 18 – 20 | 7:30PM

Pat Cruz & Carl Hancock Rux In Conversation featuring a performance of a work-in-progress

by The FHP Collective

PART II: FILM

Dutchman Film & Conversation Presented in collaboration with Maysles Documentary Center

FRI – SAT, JANUARY 27 – 28 7:30PM | $35 / $25

PART III: POETRY

Music & Poetry: Thulani Davis + Wadada Leo Smith

E-MOVES Our signature dance series presenting works inspired by the Black Arts Movement.

PART VII: BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: THEN AND NOW CONFERENCE

The Black Arts Movement Conference is a three-day event featuring panels, discussions, essays, and performances that reflect, examine, and point to the full experience and culture of the Black Arts Movement, culminating in a concert curated by Vernon Reid.

FRI – SAT, FEBRUARY 24 – 25 7:30PM | $35 / $25

PART IV: MUSIC

Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite Reimagined feat. Michela Marino Lerman

FRI – SAT, MARCH 24 7:30PM | $25 / $15

PART V: THEATER

Excerpts, Readings, and Conversation Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy

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Photo by Kwame Brathwaite

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Photos of Pat Cruz and Carl Hancock Rux by Marc Millman

FRI – SAT, OCT 14 – 15 | 7:30PM | $25 / $15 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART I: INTRODUCTION PAT CRUZ & CARL HANCOCK RUX IN CONVERSATION FEATURING THE FHP COLLECTIVE The Black Arts Movement was a cultural movement in the 1960s to 1970s that was rooted in music, literature, drama, and visual arts, led by Black artists, activists, and intellectuals. This was the cultural intersection that moved and shaped the ideologies of Black identity, political beliefs, and African American culture.

In this introduction of the Harlem Stage series Black Arts Movement: Examined, Harlem Stage Artistic Director & CEO, Pat Cruz, and Associate Artistic Director/Curatorin-Residence, Carl Hancock Rux, discuss, examine, and dive into the importance of the movement and the inspiration and meaning behind this curated series. Exploring its profound and innovative successes, this dialogue also turns a critical eye toward the movement’s exclusionary principles, which managed to alienate a Black and White mainstream culture.

In this conversation, led by Cruz, a representative of artists who worked and lived through the era of the Black Arts Movement; and Rux, representing one of many present-day artists and activists who worked

closely with the Black Lives Matter Movement; audience members are invited into a forum of discussion, inviting commentary and questions, attempting to reawaken a critical discourse regarding black aesthetics, while challenging, clarifying, contextualizing, and questioning the evolution and legacy of a controversial arts movement and its impact on Black arts institutions today.

Following a brief intermission, The FHP Collective, dance company of internationally acclaimed dancer/ choreographer Francesca Harper, will perform a work-in-progress showing of a new work that responds to themes of racial justice and accountability.

The new work performed by The FHP Collective is supported by Works & Process’ LaunchPAD initiative, described as “Process as a Destination.”

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Photo courtesy of British Film Institute

FRI, NOV 11 | 7:30PM | $25 / $15 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART II: FILM

DUTCHMAN FILM & CONVERSATION Presented in collaboration with Maysles Documentary Center, Harlem Stage presents the film, Dutchman, by Amiri Baraka, which is based on his 1964 OBIE Awardwinning one act play of the same name that originally premiered at The Cherry Lane Theater. Following the screening, Harlem Stage Artistic Director & CEO Pat Cruz will speak with writer, poet, and Black Arts Movement artist David Henderson about the film.

Having a profound effect on theatergoers and critics, Baraka’s play, Dutchman, was adapted as a British film in 1967, produced by Gene Persson; directed by first-time director, Anthony Harvey (Academy Award nominee for his direction of the historical drama, The Lion In Winter); and starring acclaimed actor, Al Freeman, Jr., and two-time Academy Award-nominated actress, Shirley Knight.

the play is “designed to shock with its language and its murderous rage… an explosion of hatred rather than a play.

It puts into the mouth of its principal Negro character a scathing denunciation of all the white man’s good works, pretentions, and condescensions, proclaiming it bespeaks a promising, unsettling talent.” Widely recognized as Baraka’s greatest work in any genre, Dutchman, in both its thematic emphasis and dramatic structure, combines avant-garde rituals of irony, emotional power, and social insight; a commentary on a clash between characters from divergent social and philosophical backgrounds, both commenting on the internal divisions of individuals in American society, and both culminating in acts of violence that are at once realistic and symbolic.

Dutchman addresses interracial tension, sociopolitical awareness, and the relevance of African history and culture to blacks in the United States.

Described by The New York Times, 10

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Photo of Thulani Davis by Jermaine Jackson, Jr. Photo of Wadada Leo Smith by Jimmy Katz.

FRI – SAT, JAN 27 – 28 | 7:30PM | $35 / $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART III: POETRY MUSIC & POETRY: THULANI DAVIS + WADADA LEO SMITH Playwright, journalist, librettist, novelist, poet, and screenwriter Thulani Davis and trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Wadada Leo Smith, a frequent collaborator and Pulitzer Prize-nominated musician and composer, perform an evening of poetry and music alongside Smith’s Kikuyu Ensemble, engaging with Davis’ works, Nothing But the Music and The Emancipation Circuit.

Davis, an interdisciplinary scholar, mentored artists including journalist Greg Tate, and collaborated with artists including Laurie Carlos, Jessica Hagedorn, and Ntozake Shangé. She also wrote for The Village Voice for more than a decade, becoming a Senior Editor for the publication. Davis is one of several women poets connected to the Black Arts Movement, whose work continues to breathe impressionistic life into the Black Arts Movement’s sonic-social history.

For the last five decades, Smith has been a member of the historical and legendary AACM collective, one of the pioneering ensembles of the Black Arts Movement.

He distinctly defines his music as “Creative Music,” and his diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world.

Smith is a recipient of the 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and the Hammer Museum’s 2016 Mohn Career Achievement Award.

PERSONNEL Thulani Davis, Poetry/Words Wadada Leo Smith, Trumpet Ashley Walters, Cello Erica Dohi, Violin Pheeroan akLaff, Drums

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Photo by Kwame Brathwaite

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FRI – SAT, FEB 24 – 25 | 7:30PM | $35 / $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART IV: MUSIC MAX ROACH’S WE INSIST! FREEDOM NOW SUITE REIMAGINED FEAT. MICHELA MARINO LERMAN As part IV of the Harlem Stage series Black Arts Movement: Examined, Harlem Stage presents tap dancer, Michela Marino Lerman’s Love Movement, who will perform and re-imagine Max Roach’s groundbreaking 1960 album, We Insist! Freedom Now Suite.

In 1959, acclaimed jazz musician, Max Roach, embarked upon a collaboration with singer and poet, Oscar Brown, Jr., on a suite of songs commissioned by the youth movement of the NAACP to commemorate the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. What resulted, We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, marked a decisive shift challenging jazz music conventions, as its sentiments conveyed a growing impatience with the lagging pace of the American civil rights movement, and demanded a turn toward global anticolonialism.

Released on Candid Records in 1960, featuring Roach, and singer Abbey Lincoln, and a host of noted musicians, the music quickly became a global phenomenon.

Winner of the 2019 Hoofer Award, Michela Marino Lerman is a globally sought after tap dance artist, 14

performer, choreographer, bandleader, educator, and all-around creative spirit. The Huffington Post has called her a “hurricane of rhythm” and The New York Times has called her both a “prodigy” and has described her dancing as “flashes of brilliance.”

Quincy Jones has said she is an “absolute tap dancing star who knows her roots.” She was proudly mentored by some of the masters of tap dance including Gregory Hines, Buster Brown, Leroy Myers, Peg Leg Bates, Marion Coles, and Mable Lee. Love Movement, Marino Lerman’s ensemble, is a hybrid of the highest levels of musicianship and hoofing.

At Harlem Stage, Marino Lerman pays tribute to this groundbreaking album, selected in 2022 by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Photo Credit: Marc Millman

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Photos by Kwame Brathwaite

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Photo MarcDanny Millman Photo by Credit: Clinch

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FRI – SAT, MAR 24 | 7:30PM | $25 / $15

FRI, FEB 11–SAT FEB 12 | 7:30PM | $35/25

HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART V: THEATER EXCERPTS, READINGS, AND CONVERSATION

FUNNYHOUSE OF A NEGRO BY ADRIENNE KENNEDY Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy was a seminal play written during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

It represented a radical departure from the naturalistic theater of the time and provided performance opportunities for a long list of actors who became the iconic talents of the decades that followed. Readings and excerpts of this groundbreaking work will be presented at Harlem Stage, preceded by a conversation with Associate Artistic Director/Curatorin-Residence Carl Hancock Rux, providing further context on the impact of the work and its relationship to the Black Arts Movement.

Funnyhouse of a Negro is a modern classic about the student Sarah, a young Black woman living in New York City, and her search for her identity in a very complex, warring, and fractured world. This search is manifested in her many selves: Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Hapsburg, Patrice Lumumba, and Jesus Christ. Performed by colleges worldwide, this landmark play speaks to students trying to find a place in the world. Funnyhouse of a Negro was first presented Off-Broadway at the East End Theater in New York City on January 14, 1964.

- [ ] Funnyhouse of a Negro is a modern classic about the student Sarah, a young Black woman living in New York City, and her search for her identity in a very complex, warring, and fractured world. This search is manifested in her many selves: Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Hapsburg, Patrice Lumumba, and Jesus Christ. Performed by colleges worldwide, this landmark play speaks to students trying to find a place in the world. Funnyhouse of a Negro was first presented Off-Broadway at the East End Theater in New York City on January 14, 1964.

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Photo by Marc Millman

THU – SAT, APR 13 – 15 | 7:30PM | $35 / $25

FRI, FEB 11–SAT FEB 12 | 7:30PM | $35/25

HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART VI: DANCE E-MOVES For over 20 years, Harlem Stage’s signature dance series, E-Moves, has brought together phenomenal choreographers, artists, musicians, and dancers of color to showcase their choreographic visions and pull audiences into an exploration of movement and message. The Black Arts Movement: Examined series inspires this year’s program and will feature works in conversation with the Black Arts Movement.

Join us for an evening showcasing emerging, evolving, and established choreographers responding to the legacy of the past while creating dances that lean into the future.

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Supported, in part, by the Mellon Foundation, the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

Photo Credit: Andrew Lepley

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Photo courtesy of Pat Cruz

THU – SAT, MAY 18 – 20

FRI, FEB 11–SAT FEB 12 | 7:30PM | $35/25

HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE LIVE

BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: EXAMINED

PART VII: BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: THEN AND NOW CONFERENCE Inspired, imagined, and curated by Harlem Stage Associate Artistic Director/Artist-in-Residence, Carl Hancock Rux, the Black Arts Movement Conference is a threeday event featuring a keynote address by poet, music critic, and arts administrator A.B. Spellman, panels, discussions, essays, and performances, including a closingnight concert co-presented with Park Avenue Armory, curated by guitarist and songwriter Vernon Reid, that reflect, examine, and point to the full experience and culture of the Black Arts Movement.

areas of tension between the intellectual, ethical, and commercial imperatives of the Black Arts Movement. In conversations between pioneers of the Black Arts Movement and a contemporary generation of artists and scholars, the Black Arts Movement Conference centers itself within a dialogue that is both historically and culturally relevant in our ever-changing world.

Full lineup & schedule to be announced soon!

Employing roundtables, public dialogues, and screenings, the convening will explore controversial

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Photo Credit: Robert Adam Mayer

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THE HARLEM STAGE FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS

The SHS Foundation

JoAnn Chase Company

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Other significant institutional support provided by the Thompson Family Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund.

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THE HARLEM STAGE FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS Harlem Stage deeply appreciates the many individuals and institutions that provide their generous support, making our programs possible. We are pleased to recognize the following contributors for their donation of $1,000 or more: ENDOWMENT Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation Leonard and Sophie Davis Estate Rockefeller Brothers Fund PUBLIC SOURCES Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine Mayor Eric Adams Department of Cultural Affairs and Commissioner Laurie Cumbo New York City Council New York State Council on the Arts National Endowment for the Arts Consulate General of Sweden The Embassy of Sweden Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone FOUNDATIONS Altman Foundation Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. Association of Performing Arts Professionals Bloomberg Philanthropies Capozzalo Heil Giving Fund Cheswatyr Foundation Citi Foundation Columbia Community Service Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts Davis/Dauray Family Fund Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation The Ford Foundation The Howard Gilman Foundation The Harkness Foundation for Dance Jerome Foundation Lambent Foundation/Tides Foundation The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund Lucille Lortel Foundation

Mellon Foundation Mertz Gilmore Foundation Metzger-Price Fund Mid-Atlantic Arts Regional Resilience Fund Mosaic Network and Fund New Music USA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Open Society Foundations May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation The Scherman Foundation, Inc. SHS Foundation The Shubert Foundation, Inc. The David and Sylvia Teitelbaum Fund, Inc. The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc. CORPORATIONS ABC Signature BET Networks Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aid JoAnn Chase Company Consolidated Edison Company Endeavor Gluck Plus Janus Properties Manhattan Beer Distributors Paula Cooper Gallery SESAC, Inc. TD Bank UTA—United Talent Agency Vision Marketing, Inc. WABC-TV Warner Bros. Discovery West Harlem Development Corporation Vision Marketing WABC-TV

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Marcia and Maurice Lyons INDIVIDUALS Mickey Lyons Rosemarie and Burnside Anderson Marilu Marshall Tracy L. Austin Edward McBrien Neal Baer Sherman and Chris Meloni Catherine Baker-Pitts Jonas Norr Stefany and Simon Bergson Martin Noxon Angela Glover Blackwell* and Fred Blackwell Ryan Scott Oliver Esi Bracey Daniel Oliverio Jamila* and Alvin Bragg Daniel J. Osheyack Bill Bragin Estelle Parsons and Peter Zimroth Jamie Cannon* Marguerite Pitts Patty and Bill Cannon Maxine and John Potts Kathleen and Henry Chalfant Sharon and Bob Prince JoAnn K. Chase* Rebecca Robertson* Kinshasha Holman Conwill Judith Rubin Caroline and Paul Cronson LaChanze Sapp-Gooding* Patricia Cruz* Edward W. Snowdon Jr. Hugh Dancy* and Claire Danes* L. Josh Schmell Wendy Davies Robyn L. Stein Winfred Dooley David Stone Angelina Fiordellisi and Matt Williams Elizabeth Streb and Laura Flanders Neil Gaiman Jordan Thaler Trevor Gale Mark Thomas* Alex Gansa Jennifer and Derek Trulson Fernando Garcia Tamara Tunie* Stuart Gelwarg and Karen Lipkind Reginald Van Lee and Corey L. McCathern Myrna and Freddie Gershon Fran and Barry Weissler Gail Gregg Katy and Greg Williamson Agnes Gund Carol Wood Moore Michael Haggen Michael A. Young* Lisa Hakim Maya L. Harris and Tony West *Board Members Mitchell Harris and Ilham Mezyan Mari Hashasian As of September 1, 2022, the list is in John Josephson and Carolina Zapf formation. Donations under $1,000 are greatly Jenette Kahn* and Al Williams appreciated, but not acknowledged publicly.

Michael Kenny If your name has been omitted or misprinted, Steven Kirkpatrick please accept our apologies and contact Brad Learmonth and Jon Gilman Associate Director of Development, Shante Steve Levine Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell* and Marcus Mitchell Skyers at sskyers@harlemstage.org Glenn Ligon Carey Lovelace Allison and Howard Lutnick

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Angela Glover Blackwell Jenna Bond Jamila Ponton Bragg

JoAnn K. Chase Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Jenette Kahn Rebecca Robertson LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO MANAGEMENT Eric Oberstein, Managing Director DEVELOPMENT Shamar Hill, Director of Development Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development PROGRAMMING Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Yunie Mojica, Programming Manager MARKETING Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer BOX OFFICE Eddy Perez, Box Office Manager PRODUCTION Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production OPERATIONS Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations Lamont Askins, Operations Associate Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance

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Diverse Artists. Transformative Art.

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