THE CONVERSATION SERIES:
STITCHING THE GEOPOLITICAL QUILT TO RE-BODY BELONGING
how can we get the world that we deserve? one that can work for everyone?
how can we hold ourselves and each other accountable to create a better sense for belonging?
how does our relationship to time and the exploration of it allow us to reconsider or navigate working across difference?
about the work
This work is a dance-based geopolitical “quilt”, stitching together uncertain relentless trajectories by centering belonging to disrupt the erasure of silenced stories.
An inter- and multimedia, multi-year work that activates technologies of the body, tools, and toys to build paths in a non-colonizing fashion towards justice and equitable landscapes.
This collaborative, immersive work, performed by two men with different racial and cultural backgrounds, preferences the value of bodies coexisting – sharing weight and responsibility, dancing to become better ancestors. As Wilkins travel to make and share this work, he will stitch together a dance-quilt to broaden our understandings of what it means to be American and sew ourselves together anew.
The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging is an ongoing and always shifting dance-quilt, confronting and celebrating heritage, resilience, justice, and hope. The multi-year work will require Wilkins travel to all 50 U.S. states/D.C./5 inhabited territories and realize four specific media outcomes:
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Choreographic works will be developed that connect dance-quilt patches created in and with intergenerational community members in a non-colonizing fashion. When sewn together these quilts will present as informal community rituals in site-specific, public spaces and formal performances.
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A digital humanities living archive will be developed exposing multi-sensory experiences of belonging that course corrects American history.
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A documentary film that examines a perspective of a nation’s soul through the performer’s perseverance and resilience in working together toward a different future will be developed.
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Finally, Wilkins will create a toykit (a toolkit implies a need to fix, a toykit represents an invitation to co-create and participate in a process of uniting and healing) for community-based embodied diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice work. This toykit can be used by other artists across the country to continue the process of manifesting a more socially just America at the heart of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging.
What does it mean to be american and sew ourselves together anew?
Choreographic Rituals: FREE, site-based presentations that are part dance, performance art, and mediation.
Conversation Series Events
Wed, May 28LafayetteA convening for building connected communities & that emerges from The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging, an ongoing art & social change work.
Multiple DatesSat, Sep 14BoulderHelanius premieres the third evening-length stage production for The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging in Boulder, CO. All performances will be followed by Q & A sessions with special guests. Performances September 12 - 14, 2024.
Sun, May 12NCCAkronResidency as part of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging that will include FREE public events at North Hill Branch Library and People's Park. This engagement marks Helanius' third visit to Akron, OH. Full Residency: May 12 – 19, 2024.
Sat, Apr 20Keshet Center for the ArtsResidency as part of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging that will include two Conversations open to the public with Dr. Manuel Montoya. This engagement marks Helanius' third visit to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Full Residency: April 20 - 28, 2024.- Mon, Apr 01WashingtonResidency as part of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging that will include workshops, conversations, and community engagement, with a Choreographic Ritual performance on Sun. Apr. 7, 2024 at 4:00 pm.
Mon, Oct 16Acadiana Center for the ArtsResidency as part of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging which may include workshops, conversations, and community engagement, with a performance on Thurs Oct 26, 2023 at 7:30pm.
Fri, Jun 09Midtown Arts & Theater Center HoustonJoin Dance Source Houston for Barnstorm Dance Fest 2023, happening June 6-10 at Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Houston! Barnstorm showcases the vibrancy of dance in Houston and provides audiences with an exciting sampling of dance genres.
Thu, Apr 20Charlotte York Irey TheatreHelanius performs latest duet with A. Ryder Turner as part of CU Boulder Dance Program's The Current.
Sun, Feb 19University Center for the Arts @CSUBody/Speak features guests from colleges, universities, and dance companies across the region who join CSU Dance for an evening of diverse dance. “This concert brings our community together to showcase what’s happening in dance across Colorado and Wyoming,” said Director of Dance Emily Morgan.
Wed, Feb 15St Olaf College
Mon, Jan 16Red Line Contemporary Art CenterRedLine presents choreographer, performance artist, and artivist (artist-activist) Helanius J. Wilkins in conversation with Atlanta-based writer, Black power advocate, and community organizer John Burl Smith for a FREE community event that honors and celebrates the Martin L. King Jr. holiday.
Sat, Oct 15Dance InitiativeOverview of The Conversation Series.
Wed, Jun 22LafayetteArtist residency with Helanius J. Wilkins (Dancer/Choreographer /Educator) and duet-partner A. Ryder Turner (Dancer/Community-Engagements Co-Facilitator).
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LOOKING FOR: Presenting Partners, Funders, Touring Opportunities
FOR INFORMATION & BOOKINGS: info@helaniusj.com
DANCE, HUMANITIES & SOCIAL CHANGE ADVISORY TEAM
Dr. James Fraizer (Dean & Professor of Dance, College of Fine Arts School of Dance, Florida State University, FL)
Dr. Kate Mattingly (Lead Advisor) (Assistant Professor of Dance, Old Dominion University, VA)
Paloma McGregor (Founder Dancing While Black and Co-Founder Angela’s Pulse, NYC)
Ysatiz Piñero (Director, Office of Identity, Equity & Engagement at University of North Carolina Charlotte, NC)
Amy Smith (Economic Justice Consultant, PA)
Dr. Marissa Volpe (Chief of Equity & Engagement, History Colorado, CO)
COLLABORATION TEAM
Concept & Direction Helanius J. Wilkins
Choreography Helanius J. Wilkins (Movement vocabulary created in collaboration with dance partners)
Performance, Community Engagement Co-facilitation A. Ryder Turner (2020 - 2023)
Performance, Community Engagement Co-facilitation Brandon Welch (2023 - present)
Original Sound Score Composition, Arrangement, & Performance Andy Hasenpflug
Screendance Cinematography/Original Sound Score Composition & Performance Watcheye Studios l Carlos D. Flores
Dramaturgy elle hong
Performance Doula Gesel Mason
Technical Direction, Lighting Design & Set Design Iain Court
Technical Direction, Video Content Creation & Editing for Stage Production Roma Flowers
Technology Design & Programming (interactive technology) Peter Gyory
Costume Design Jasmine Lewis (Jasmine Lewis Design)
Additional Collaborators to be announced.
FUNDING INFORMATION
The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Redline Contemporary Art Center in partnership with CSPS Legion Arts, Dance Place, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and NPN/VAN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org.
The development of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging was made possible in part by the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron).
Funding for this work is made possible in part through an Arts in Society grant, a collaborative grant-making program that fosters cross-sector work through the arts by supporting the integration of arts and culture into multiple disciplines critical to the healt and well-being of Coloradans. The Program, which is administered by RedLine Contemporary Art Center, is funded by a cohort of Colorado foundations including Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, Colorado Health Foundation, and Denver Arts & Venues.
Funding for this work is made possible in part through a Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) Small Grant award from the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as in part through an FY 2022 Research & Innovation Seed Grant from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Helanius J. Wilkins is a Boulder County Arts Alliance (BCAA) 2021 Boulder County Arts Recovery grant recipient. Support was made available to address continued sustainability needs during COVID-19 and in support of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging.
Funding for this work is made possible in part through a Colorado Creates Creative Corps ARP Grant. The Colorado Creative Corps ARP grant is made possible by the Colorado Creative Industries with support by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Helanius J. Wilkins is a 2021 NDP Finalist Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to address continued sustainability needs during COVID-19 and in support of The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging.
This work is made possible in part by the Croft Residency, an organization that hosted a fall 2021 RADicle creative development residency in Michigan. RADicle residency, the name of the program, is the result of a partnership between the Croft Residency and RAD Fest.
This work is made possible in part by The Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver, an organization that hosted a summer 2021 creative development residency.
This work is made possible through the generous support of contributions made by individual donors.