HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS with SC Philharmonic, Cola Rep Dance Co, Columbia Choral Society, Michael Hazin, Camm Wess, Cat Galan, Johnnie Felder and SANTA!!!

Cindi Boiter November 21, 2024

The South Carolina Philharmonic presents Home for the Holidays on Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts under the baton of Music Director Morihiko Nakahara. The SC Philharmonic is bringing this community celebration back to the Koger Center for one night only after last season’s inaugural performance. As this concert is a holiday-themed variety show, the orchestra will be joined by singers CammWess (The Voice, Team John Legend), Cat Galan (Stankface, Boomtown Trio), Michael Hazin (musical theatre performer) and opera singer Johnnie Felder. The concert includes two performances by Cola Rep Dance Co. The Columbia Choral Society also comes to the stage for the thrilling second act. Finally, Santa will also be on hand for any last-minute requests. This joyful concert is a creative collaboration between Music Director Morihiko Nakahara and director Chad Henderson, the former Artistic Director of Trustus Theatre and current Marketing Director of the SC Phil. Tickets may be purchased by visiting scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at 803-251-2222.

Home for the Holidays is one of the last large-scale holiday-themed events of the season, with the performance scheduled on December 19th. This concert is a great way to entertain family and friends who have gathered for the holidays, and to those who are looking for new traditions. Created in collaboration with Music Director Morihiko Nakahara and local theatre director Chad Henderson, this concert promises to be an energetic experience that celebrates the Midlands arts scene. “This concert is a salute to our community,” said Director Chad Henderson. “Last year, we started out trying to create an exciting program of joyous music that would set performers up to shine with an orchestra. Once we got into the weeds, we realized we had created a multidisciplinary celebration of home.” The creative team of Nakahara and Henderson leaned into that aspect with more intentionality this season.

Audiences can expect to hear holiday classics like Bing Crosby’s Jingle Bells, Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song and Leroy Anderson’s festive holiday treat: Sleigh Ride. Opera singer Johnnie Felder will join Cat Galan for a very special performance of The Prayer - made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. The Columbia Choral Society will join the orchestra for arrangements of Twas the Night Before Christmas and selections from John Williams’ Home Alone score, among others.

“Without giving everything away, we have some special surprises planned for our audience,” said Henderson. “With this concert being so late in December, we are really focused on creating an evening for families and friends. A lot of folks are about to travel to other places at that time, and so many are returning home as well. This concert is a great way to get into the spirit, and to be awed by the talent we have in the Midlands. We’re also collaborating with one of my favorite colleagues: lighting designer Marc Hurst. You’re going to get some epic musical experiences out of this one.”

The SC Philharmonic’s Home for the Holidays will take the Koger Center stage on Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM at. Concert ticket prices range from $25 to $55, and they can be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office (803) 251-2222.

For more information about the South Carolina Philharmonic, please visit SCPhilharmonic.com

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by Supporting Local Hispanic and Latino/a Creators by Christina Xan

Cindi Boiter October 9, 2024

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 – October 15 and highlights and celebrates Hispanic and Latino heritage and identity in the United States. Hispanic (those from Spanish-speaking countries) and Latin (those from Latin America) culture is rife with history that enriches the communities we dwell in. Columbia is one of these diverse spaces, and the art that emerges from this city, specifically, is inundated with a multitude of cultural perspectives. This Hispanic Heritage Month, Jasper encourages all patrons to seek out multidisciplinary art from Hispanic and Latino/a artists and to explore how the creators’ backgrounds affect their work. Don’t know where to start? Jasper talked with six Columbia-based artists about how their cultural identity affects their creative process. Learn about them and their work below.

Daniel Esquivia Zapata – Visual Artist

Describe the kind of art you make.

Daniel’s work explores ideas about historical memory, official historical narratives, and what he terms the politics of remembering. He does this through life-size figurative drawings that combine historical texts, the human body, plants, and animals to generate strong spaces that work as poetic imagery, probing the dynamics of narratives in history and historical memory. This represents an exercise not only of why and what, but also of how we remember, especially in societies with conflicting narratives, obfuscated historical memories, and legacies of colonialism. He uses a combination of traditional figure drawing techniques, liquid charcoal and fragmented print and hand-written texts to draw on several layers of mylar, creating life size drawings that combine representations of the human body, plants, and animals to create news bodies that work as metaphors for political bodies intersected by history, newspaper articles and archives. With these drawings Daniel seeks to unveil the "place of memory" within our bodies amid intersecting discourses, making tangible the essence of our collective past and present. His work has driven him to create images that replace the common container metaphor of memory with one that understands memory as something dynamic and interconnected; something alive, inhabited by ideas, narratives, and discourses that live, age, die (or are killed); something like an ecosystem of memories and narratives, and ecosystem that is inhabited by beings of texts.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

In Daniel's life, a multiplicity of narratives and multinational experiences has made him think deeply about the dynamics of discourse and narratives in our societies, especially as an Afro-Latino in the Americas. For Daniel, the intersection of different identities has profoundly influenced his work. His experiences as the son of a human rights lawyer and a social worker in a multiethnic and multiracial family in Colombia; as a victim of forced displacement from his hometown in 1989; as an Afro-Colombian who studied at a HBCU in the US South [Benedict College]; and as a citizen living in Colombia and grappling with the legacies and present realities of its civil war; these experiences have all presented points of encounter with the forces of history’s multiple faces—unofficial, alternative, contested, surviving—that build and situate someone’s identity.

Alejandro García-Lemos – Visual Artist

Describe the kind of art you make.

Alejandro García-Lemos is a visual artist based in Columbia, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana. He holds a MA in Latin American Studies from Florida International University in Miami, and a BA in Graphic Design from the School of Arts at the National University in Bogotá, Colombia. His work focuses on social issues, mostly on aspects of immigration, sexuality, biculturalism, religion, and community. His works have been shown mostly in the Southeast. Alejandro is a former member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), as well as the founder of Palmetto & LUNA, a non-profit organization promoting Latino Arts and Cultures in South Carolina since 2007. Lately his work has been shown in Colombia.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

For this particular question I had to look up the exact definition of cultural identity … Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality, gender, or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. Therefore my cultural identity is omnipresent in my work, as I had mentioned many times before, I am three times a minority, I am Latinx, gay, and immigrant, how could you avoid those aspects as an intrinsic part of all your art?

Emily Moffitt – Visual Artist

Describe the kind of art you make.

The type of art I create boils down to what I have the most fun with. I'm still trying to make my way in and have my foot in the door of the Columbia art scene! Like most Gen Z artists, I got into art from a young age via immense media consumption: video games, anime, cartoons, comics, and the list continues. As a result, the kind of work I create typically falls under the "illustration" category. I go back and forth between illustration and fine art, and sometimes I still think the distinction shouldn't even matter! As a recent college graduate who has now experienced the adulthood rite of passage that is working a 9-5 while still having time for hobbies, as long as I take even 10 minutes of my day to get my hands moving and draw something in my sketchbook, it's a successful day for me.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

The "fine art" I created started with a body of work that explored my heritage and connected to it more after my grandmother passed away in 2021, and I aim to continue it either by maintaining the "dreamscape" title or by starting a new collection. My goal in the fine art world is to create a body of work that I'm constantly thinking about, called "My Mother's Kitchen," since the closest ties I have to my Puerto Rican heritage stem from cuisine, my relationship with my mom, and the amount of time I spent growing up in and around the kitchen watching my mother make the recipes she grew up making with my grandmother. At this point, it's just a matter of me finding the time, and holding myself accountable, that's preventing me from following through! I do find that my mixed heritage sometimes feels like an obstacle when I do work, however, and that's an internalized hurdle I try to overcome when I create, too. Taíno symbology persists throughout my heritage-based work, and I wanted to also focus on the importance of my relationships with my mom and sister. My Puerto Rican heritage has been driven and shaped only by women in my life, and I wanted to pay homage to that, especially since my sister and I feel the same internalized obstacle of sometimes feeling "not Latina enough."

Claire Jiménez – Author

Describe the kind of art you make.

Claire Jiménez is a Puerto Rican writer who grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York. She is the author of the short story collection Staten Island Stories (Johns Hopkins Press, 2019) and What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez (Grand Central, 2023). She received her M.F.A. from Vanderbilt University and her PhD in English with specializations in Ethnic Studies and Digital Humanities from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In 2019, she co-founded the Puerto Rican Literature Project, a digital archive documenting the lives and work of hundreds of Puerto Rican writers from over the last century. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

My writing is very much influenced by the work of past Puerto Rican writers, especially the Nuyorican poets. I am thinking of Pedro Pietri's "The Puerto Rican Obituary" and the work of Judith Ortiz Cofer. I remember reading Silent Dancing and "The Story of My Body" for the first time as a young person, who had a hard time finding books by any Puerto Rican authors in the bookstore in the nineties. These texts were inspiring to me as a young reader, and they definitely shaped me as a writer.

Loli Molina Muñoz – Author

Describe the kind of art you make.

I write poetry and fiction. I have just finished my first poetry chapbook manuscript in English, and I also have a feminist dystopia novella in Spanish, both of them searching for a warming publishing house.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

Being born and raised in Málaga, Spain, I grew up immersed in both Spanish and English language thanks to literature, music, and pop culture, which deeply influenced my work. However, I have also lived in Coventry (UK), Wisconsin, and finally moved to South Carolina in 2013. For this reason, my work explores themes of identity, feminism, migration, and the intersections between cultures.

[ALMA] SPANISH

Querida madre:

Estos días pienso mucho en usted.

Ayer me acordé de su guiso de

carne y quise hacer uno yo.

No me supo igual.

Me faltaba el sabor añadido de sus

manos y el olor de su delantal.

Los niños dijeron que estaba muy

bueno. Yo les di las gracias y sonreí.

Dos lágrimas que se escaparon

disimulando para no ser vistas.

Tampoco vieron las dos cartas del

banco avisando del desahucio.

Les dije que vamos a pasar unos

días en casa de Alejandra.

Les hizo ilusión pasar un tiempo

con sus primos y eso me alivió.

Luego recordé aquella vez que

usted me dijo que eligiera mi

muñeca favorita.

Crucé el desierto de la mano de

Alejandra con la muñeca pegada

a mi pecho como un amuleto.

Aún conservo mi muñeca.

Aún tengo a Alejandra.

Voy a estar bien.

No se preocupe.

[ALMA] ENGLISH

Dear mother,

These days I think about you all the time.

Yesterday I remembered your beef

stew and I made one myself.

It did not taste the same.

It did not have that extra flavor from

your hands or the smell of your apron.

The kids said that they liked it.

I thanked them and smiled.

Two tears escaped trying not

to be seen by them.

They did not see the two eviction

letters from the bank either.

I told them that we are going to stay

some days at Alejandra’s.

They were happy about spending

time with their cousins and that soothed me.

Later I remembered that time

you told me to choose my favorite doll.

I crossed the desert holding Alejandra’s

hand and the doll stuck

to my chest like an amulet.

I still keep my doll.

I still have Alejandra.

I’ll be fine.

Don’t worry.

Giovanna Montoya – Ballet Dancer

Describe the kind of art you make.

I’m a professional ballet dancer, so my art is dance. Ballet is a theatrical art form that integrates music, dance, acting and scenery to convey a story, or a theme.

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

My cultural identity represents who I am; a dedicated, driven, disciplined, strong woman, which stands up for what’s right, and never gives up. I am always aiming to move forward, trying to do better every day, even if it is little by little, and working hard to achieve my dreams and goals. These have been imperative assets to possess, that have helped me to become a professional ballet dancer with 15+ years of experience. Ballet is a beautiful but difficult art form, which requires a lot of time, sacrifice, effort, love, endless hours of training, and a great deal of discipline and dedication. I would never have become a professional ballet dancer if it weren’t for the commitment, dedication, responsibility, and integrity that my parents showed and instilled in me from a young age. Coming into this country as an immigrant it’s very difficult, and you have to work very hard to achieve success. That’s something my parents made very clear to me from the beginning, and they led by example. Always working hard, never giving up and excelling in their fields. My dad is a statistician for the Mayo Clinic. My mom is a Veterinarian doctor and was a University Professor in my home Country Venezuela. I’m so thankful for my parents and my cultural identity that has shaped me, and played a pivotal role in the person that proudly I am today.

Cola Rep Dance Company Performs at 701 CCA - Sunday September 8th

Cindi Boiter August 30, 2024

701 Center for Contemporary Art

is proud to present the

Columbia Repertory Dance Company

in performance in the 701 CCA gallery on

Sunday, September 8, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This exciting event showcases choreography by CRDC co-founder and artistic director, Stephanie Wilkins, who was inspired by Jordan Sheridan’s exhibition, “Duality,” currently on view. Sheridan’s interactive exhibition will serve as the backdrop for this unique performance. Prepare to be moved as the dancers bring Sheridan’s artistic vision to life in a powerful fusion of art and dance.

“We are looking forward to adapting some of our favorite pieces of rep from the last few years to perform in and around Jordan’s installation,” says Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, CRDC co-founder and managing director. “The nature of Jordan’s work evokes the idea of movement with the manipulation of light through glass and fabric. As both a dancer and an arts patron, experiencing the highs and lows of these pieces as they are magnified by her work will be something really special.”

Columbia Repertory Dance Company - photo by Ashley Concannon

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE!

701 CCA is a dynamic hub for contemporary artistic exploration, experimentation, and engagement. Founded in 2007, CCA functions as a catalyst for outstanding contemporary art, engaging diverse communities and diverse artists in meaningful dialogue. Considered one of the largest non-profit art centers in South Carolina, 701 CCA produces five to six contemporary art exhibitions annually, is free to visit and is open to the public five days a week.

701 CCA is located at 701 Whaley Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201.

During exhibitions, hours are Thurs-Sun 1-5.

For more information, visit www.701cca.org.

Columbia Repertory Dance Company Announces Upcoming Performance in New Koger Center Space

Cindi Boiter August 6, 2024

Cola Rep Dance Co will present a full bill of dance Saturday and Sunday in the Koger Center’s new performance space, August 17th and 18th, 2024. “How to Fall Down” explores the idea that though it is inescapable to fall down in our lives, it is how we get up and learn to fail better that develops our character. Cola Rep Dance Co will perform “How to Fall Down” on Saturday August 17th 2024 at 7pm and Sunday August 18th 2024 at 3pm in the Koger Center for the Arts Lower Level (1051 Greene St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $35 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.Colarep.com or https://donorbox.org/events/643006 for Saturday and https://donorbox.org/events/643158 for Sunday.

“How to Fall Down” brings together eleven Company dancers and five female choreographers along with professionally designed costuming, and sound and lighting by Sherr Productions to be the first dance event in the newly outfitted lower level of the Koger Center for the Arts. Be the first to see three new works by Artistic Director and resident choreographer Stephanie Wilkins and join Cola Rep Dance Co in welcoming Jennifer Deckert, Simone Cuttino and Dale Lam as well as Cola Rep Dance Co Young Choreographer Kayla Uwagbai.

In 2018 co-founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins founded the Columbia Summer Repertory Dance Company with a desire to offer dancers more options in a city focused heavily on ballet. They started with the financial sponsorship of the Jasper Project, a plan focused on summer performances (Columbia’s dance offseason) and a sold out debut performance in 2019 which was followed by a sold out concert in 2021. The company has extended their season length and become a 501c3 non-profit organization. The group’s popularity among Columbia natives comes from their commitment to exploring refreshing narratives and styles of dance in their work. Cola Rep Dance Co will perform “How to Fall Down” on Saturday August 17th 2024 at 7pm and Sunday August 18th 2024 at 3pm in the Koger Center for the Arts Lower Level (1051 Greene St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $35 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.Colarep.com or https://donorbox.org/events/643006 for Saturday and https://donorbox.org/events/643158 for Sunday.

This program is supported in part by H-tax funding from the City of Columbia and by the South Carolina Arts Commission which is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and collaborates in its work with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and South Arts.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company’s mission is to broaden the experience of professional dance artists and patrons in Columbia, SC through multidisciplinary collaborative performances year-round. We aim to retain the talents of South Carolina dance artists and provide a spectrum of professional opportunities while inspiring and developing a broader and deeper understanding of dance in Columbia and surrounding areas.

Cola Rep Dance Company Performs SAME PALM for Columbia Audiences Before Traveling to NY for International Performance at the DUMBO Dance Festival

Cindi Boiter June 16, 2024

If you’re tired of the same old fairytale ballet performances where the spirit of the dancer is subsumed by the restraints of only one person’s imagination, come out to CMFA next Friday and Saturday nights as Columbia Repertory Dance Company presents Same Palm, their first concert of the summer season.

“The title Same Palm comes from our constant investigation of holding pain and joy in the same palm, and how these diverse emotions must coexist for us to get through this life, especially the sometimes-brutal parts,” says Stephanie Wilkins, CRDC co-founder and artistic director.

Company dancers include Joshua Alexander, Erin Bailey, Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, Shannon Chapman (understudy), Ashlee Daniels, Cecily Davis, Emily Jordan, Carrie Preus, Megan Saylors, Jalen Scriven, Jack Thompson, Olivia Timmerman, and Stephanie Wilkins.

“This show we are also celebrating the launch of the Cola Rep Young Choreographer Initiative with the premier of our apprentice Jalen Scriven’s Changes, adds Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, CRDC co-founder and managing director. “Scriven, an Alumni of Columbia City Jazz Conservatory and a student at University of Southern California, worked with the company to create the piece which he says references ‘holding a mirror to yourself.’ It’s impressive to work with a young artist who possesses the capacity to communicate what he wants clearly but is also so open to collaboration. It’s inspiring and makes me hopeful for the future of dance.”

In addition to Wilkins’ choreography, the company is excited to welcome works from other major SC choreographers including Erin Bailey Angela Gallo, and Terrance Henderson. “Terrance’s piece is a beautiful blend of ritual and contemporary dance that truly honors both his culture and ancestors,” Wilkins says. “Erin and Ashlee‘s duet is a perfect example of what brings them the most happiness, which is moving in and out of the floor and over and under and on top of each other with lovely contact partnering. Angela’s piece is, as usual, set to a very interesting score and the movement in it embodies her very essence, I see her in all of the dancers and the choreography. Erin’s Kinect is athletic and powerful, but also sinuous … I know the work of these three choreographers and what I love about them is that their pieces are genuine and true to themselves, but they also try to break open their own personal stories and use their creativity to challenge themselves, their dancers, and the viewer.”

Columbia Repertory Dance Company was founded in 2019 by Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins as a professional company that would resolve the age-old Columbia problem of already established dance companies only offering contracts to their dancers for six or fewer months per year. This impacted the dancers, who still had to stay in shape, (professional dancers must take class from 5 – 7 days per week to stay fit), and also had to pay for their living expenses, by offering them paying dance gigs, artistic stimulation, and the opportunity to stay in shape without going broke. It impacted dance audiences by providing new, original, and innovative contemporary ballet performances from their favorite Columbia-based dance artists, with choreography by a large variety of some of Columbia’s top choreographers.

Sadly, in response to the founding of Columbia Repertory Dance Company, which became a non-profit 501c3 in 2022, South Carolina Ballet, which has recently changed its name again from Columbia City Ballet, began illegally forbidding its dancers from participating in any off-season, off-contract performances with other local companies such as Columbia Repertory Dance Company or Ann Brodie’s Carolina Ballet.

But this didn’t hold Columbia Repertory Dance Company back. The Company has grown to include two unique dance concerts per summer, as well as additional local performances such as Live on Lincoln, and traveling to New York to be honored as the only South Carolina dance company featured (2023 and 2024) in the DUMBO Dance Festival.

A dance festival celebrating it’s 23rd year in Brooklyn, NY, DUMBO Dance Festival stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass with the festival’s official description stating, “2024 DDF features 50 contemporary dance troupes combining over 400 artists who will present solo, chamber, and full-scale works. Dancers from across the United States, and internationally from Switzerland, Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea will join New York’s active dance community to offer the full range of new directions in dance in the 21st century.”

The festival takes place over four days in June and highlights dance companies making significant artistic contributions to the dance world. Cola Rep Dance Co is the only company from North or South Carolina invited to perform.

“We are honored and excited to have the opportunity for the second year in a row to act as ambassadors for South Carolina dance by taking members of our company to perform on stage with the other wonderful groups selected. We see it as an important way of remaining part of the global conversation on the evolution of the art form,” says Boiter-Jolley.

Same Palm will be performed at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday nights, June 21st and 22nd, at Columbia Music Festival Association at 914 Pulaski Street in Columbia’s historic Congaree Vista. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.

While you’re reserving your seats for Same Palm, mark your calendars for August 17th and 18th when Columbia Rep Dance Company performs their second concert of the summer, How to Fall Down, at the Koger Center for the Arts. How to Fall Down features the work of choreographers Dale Lam, Jennifer Deckert, and Simone Cuttino, as well as in-house choreography by Wilkins. Tickets will be available soon.

Are you ready to Glo?

Bekah Rice May 5, 2024

You are warmly invited to The Glo Show on Friday May 10, 2024 at the Olympia room at 701 Whaley. The house opens at 6:30 p.m. with heavy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar, and the performance starts at 7. The Glo Show is a performance, dance party, and a fundraiser to raise $4000 for a matching grant to Power Company Collaborative from the South Carolina Arts Commission.

The Power Company Collaborative is a multidiscipline group of artists with dance as our root of origin committed to empowerment for all people through creative engagement. Martha Brim, artistic director for The Power Company Collaborative, aka PoCoCo, has been at the helm for almost 25 years!

The Glo Show has a triple purpose. First, to raise money to match Power Company Collaborative’s SC Arts Commission grant. The pandemic sucked for artists, but the Power Company continued to make work during the lockdown in a time that wasn’t easy for anyone. They received some small grants from the Arts Commission, but they’ve blown through the savings trying to continue their work. This matching grant would go a long way to support the 25th anniversary!

The second purpose is to celebrate PoCoCo and their silver 25th anniversary! According to Martha Brim, silver symbolizes radiance, brilliance and longevity.

The third, and grounding purpose for the variety show style evening is to honor Gloria Talcove Woodard. Gloria (Glo) was a friend, a luminous and joyful person in our community who died in 2018 from cancer. Her husband Doug said, “Gloria danced and laughed through the world with boundless energy.” There are many stories of Gloria launching into spontaneous dance pretty much wherever she went.

And that’s what Martha experienced with her throughout our friendship. Whenever she and I would get together we would end up dancing. After she died, Martha made a vow to herself that if she ever saw someone dancing in public I would join them as a tribute to Gloria.

During The Glo Show, they will be DIYing our own joyful luminosity as Glo-ing up with interactive possibilities (ok dance party)! As poet Amanda Gorman said “There is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.”

The performers and artists who have generously donated their time come from as far away as South Africa. Performances include various dance styles, live music, performance art, puppetry and film. Some of the listed performers are: Erin Bailey and Moving Body Dance, Brittany Watkins, Beth E. Coiner, Besty Newman and La Tropa, Allison Tipton Milner, Amanda Ling, Lisa Wheeler, Leanne Kornegay, Sally T McKay and the Hump Day Tappers, and of course Ken May and Jeanne Garane!

There are many ways to support this fundraiser:

Buy a ticket and enjoy the amazing show! ($30)
Click on the link or qr code and donate.
Share this information with people who are also luminous and may want to support PoCoCo.
If you see someone dancing, join them. Glo and Martha style.

Visit the event page for more information and for tickets.

News from Columbia Repertory Dance Company - Riggs CreateAthon and DUMBO Dance Fest in Brooklyn

Cindi Boiter February 25, 2024

At Jasper, we have a special place in our hearts for Columbia Repertory Dance Company for many reasons. To start with, the company is working to change an unhealthy dance culture in Columbia that still supports dancers weighing in before they can dance and being suspended without pay when their weight comes in a bit high. We like the way they choreograph around dancers of all ages and sizes. And given the reality that the dance season in Columbia is rarely more than 6 months long — and professional dancers here tend to be forbidden to dance with other companies, even when they are off-contract — we like the way CRDC provides a dance home for professional dancers who rail against this unfair practice. On top of this, we’re particularly proud of this young company because the organization started out as a Jasper project before becoming a non-profit dance company in their own right. So we’re happy to share news from the CRDC with you.

Columbia Repertory Dance Company is thrilled to announce that they are one of five groups chosen as clients for Riggs Partners 2024 CreateAthon. "Riggs Partners founded CreateAthon in 1998 as an innovative way to provide probono marketing services to nonprofits in South Carolina." Over a two day period in March, a team at the design firm will work to help supply CRDC with the marketing tools and direction they need to better fulfill their mission of broadening the patron experience and extending the dance season in Columbia.

In more news for CRDC, for the second year in a row, Cola Rep Dance Company has been invited to perform in Brooklyn, NY at the DUMBO Dance Festival. Happening June 27-30, this year the company's selected repertoire is Stephanie Wilkins's Ache, performed most recently in their 2023 concert, In Our Time. Last season, the company took seven dancers to perform the works Agitato and Forgiveness Part 2 at the same festival.

Auditions!!!

Columbia Repertory Dance Company still has some openings for dancers. They are seeking professional dancers with availability April through September on Monday and Friday mornings, weekends and the occasional evening.

Send headshot, resume, and work samples to Colarepdanceco@gmail.com

UNBOUND Dance Company Presents UNBEING This Weekend

Cindi Boiter August 22, 2023

Unbound Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Caroline Lewis Jones, will present UNBEING its third annual show on Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26.at 7 PM. at Dreher High School, 3319 Millwood Avenue, Columbia, SC

UNBEING explores the process of stripping away the layers of our past to confront the raw truth of who we are--and furthermore, who we want to be. The show features narration by Columbia theater artist Jocelyn Sanders, and was written by Joanna Lewis Derrick, writer and sister of Caroline Lewis-Jones, who directs Unbound Dance Company along with Morgan Holton.

“On the heels of two successful shows, we’d like to thank our dancers, sponsors and patrons. We could not do this -- what we love -- without the support from our community,” says Lewis-Jones. “As Columbia’s art scene continues to grow, we remain steadfast in our mission to educate and inspire dancers of all ages. We are excited to collaborate with artists, creatives, and individuals of all kinds to continue producing thought-provoking work, and striving to connect within our community.”

Tickets are $50 for Priority Reserved Seating or $35 General Admission and can be purchased at www.unbounddance.com.

COLUMBIA REPERTORY DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS “IN OUR TIME” FOR TWO EVENINGS AT CMFA ARTSPACE

Cindi Boiter August 8, 2023

Professional dance company from Columbia, SC presents fourth annual concert on August 18th and 19th, 2023

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will present a full evening of dance for two nights at the CMFA Artspace, 914 Pulaski Street, August 18th and 19th, 2023 at 8 pm.

IN OUR TIME explores the stages of life and addresses the human capacity for vulnerability, strength, and growth.

With IN OUR TIME, Columbia Repertory Dance Company presents their fourth annual summer concert and second as a nonprofit organization. Featuring South Carolina choreographers Angela Gallo, Erin Bailey, Dale Lam, Kiyomi Mercadante Ramirez, Jennifer Deckert and Andre Megerdichian, and Stephanie Wilkins, the organization will mount an evening of versatile and exhilarating entertainment that demonstrates the depth and range of talent in dance in Columbia, and follows their mission statement in helping to both employ SC dance artists and ultimately provide dance opportunities that will allow exceptionally skilled professional dancers the opportunity to call Columbia, SC their year-round home.

The company will present works that portray the unique perspective of each choreographer. By collaborating with local artists and organizations and blending the highly physical with the highly emotional, Columbia Repertory Dance Company aims to create an experience that draws people in and encourages them to make dance a regular part of their arts consumption.

Pictured front - Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, co-founder & managing director, formerly of Spectrum Dance Theatre (Seattle) and principal dancer with Columbia City Ballet
Left to right - Megan Saylors - who has danced with Joel Hall and Dancers and Innervation Dance Cooperative in Chicago
Olivia Timmerman - apprentice - currently pursuing a BFA in Choreography at Coker College
Lindsay Fallow - freelance artist
photos from “Two Vulnerable People” photo credit Meghann Padgett

In 2018, co-founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins founded the Columbia Summer Repertory Dance Company with a desire to offer dancers more options in a city focused heavily on ballet. They started with the financial sponsorship of the Jasper Project, a plan focused on summer performances (Columbia’s dance offseason) and a sold-out debut performance in 2019 which was followed by a sold-out concert in 2021. The company has extended their season length and become a 501c3 non-profit organization. The group’s popularity among Columbia natives comes from their commitment to exploring refreshing narratives and styles of dance in their work.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform IN OUR TIME on Friday, August 18th, 2023, at 8 PM and Saturday, August 19th, 2023, at 8 PM at CMFA Artspace (914 Pulaski St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $30 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.coladance.com or https://donorbox.org/events/479213 for Friday and https://donorbox.org/events/479216 for Saturday.

Pictured left to right - Ashlee Taylor who performs with Moving Body Dance and the Johnson Company in addition to CRDC
Sakura Oka - 2017 World Ballet Competition Bronze Medalist who has performed with Columbia Classical Ballet, Ann Brodie’s Carolina Ballet, and Columbia City Ballet

This program is supported in part by H-tax funding from the City of Columbia and by the South Carolina Arts Commission which is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and collaborates in its work with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and South Arts.

~~~~~

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company’s mission is to broaden the experience of professional dance artists and patrons in Columbia, SC through multidisciplinary collaborative performances year-round. We aim to retain the talents of South Carolina dance artists and provide a spectrum of professional opportunities while inspiring and developing a broader and deeper understanding of dance in Columbia and surrounding areas.

For more information about the Columbia Repertory Dance Company, please visit www.coladance.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram

Business Strategies for the Performing Artist at CMFA -- April 22nd -- Register Now -- KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

Cindi Boiter April 18, 2023

Last Week to Register!

Check out this FREE and informative interactive workshop coming to you from our friends at Columbia Music Festival. Sure, no one wants to spend their Saturday morning talking dollars and cents, contracts and budgets. BUT it’s important that you, as a performing artist, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Particularly when we live in a community in which at least one well-known performing arts executive director pettily compromises the RIGHTS of the artists he works with to work for anyone else. This workshop just might change your life. And it’s FREE.

914 Pulaski Street, Columbia SC

Registerr Here!

Columbia Artists Share Their Christmas Wishes for the Art Community

Bekah Rice December 24, 2022

It’s that time of year again, where we deck our halls and trim our trees, scoot closer on our couches to those we love, and curl up tight in our blankets as we sip hot chocolate (which South Carolinians can actually do this year—brr!). It’s in these moments of peace and joy we often close our eyes to make our Christmas wish. This year, here at Jasper, we asked a handful of our local artists their wish, specifically: “If you could make one Christmas wish for the Columbia arts community, what would it be?”

Artists wished for more space—places old and new alike where they can freely share their creative gifts with the city they love.

“Main St. Back…”
—Michael Krajewski, visual artist

“More places to show (and make) art!”
—Lucas Sams, visual artist

“An artist’s alley in a public space where anyone can contribute however/whenever they want!”
—Cait Maloney, visual artist

“As a member of the Cola arts community, if I had one present for Christmas, it would be to have more spaces like CMFA (or to expand CMFA), where community members can rehearse and perform and support each other (for free)!! CMFA has been invaluable to Bonnie [Boiter-Jolley] and I’s company, the Columbia Repertory Dance Company!”
—Stephanie Wilkins, dancer and Artistic Director of Columbia Repertory Dance Company

Artists wished for an expansion of funds for local artists so that they can express themselves fully and without burden.

“I think the community could give back to the artists—no strings attached guaranteed income for those who pour into the community with their creative gifts and talents. This would help artists have the opportunity to at least cover living expenses due to the increase of the cost of living and still have the opportunity to pursue a creative career.”
—Maya Smith, visual artist

I’d wish for sufficient financing for artists to present their art to the community. There are many costs involved in producing a play, a concert, a ballet, and other art events that ticket prices alone cannot cover. To have the financial support from the public and private sectors to present our art in the best way possible would be an amazing Christmas present.
— Becky Hunter, performer

Artists wished to spend more time with each other, to acknowledge each other and create inter-community support.

“More togetherness throughout the arts community where everyone mutually supports each other, meets together quarterly, and promotes each other.”
—Arischa Conner Frierson, actor

“A 3-Day retreat filled with Skill Shares and Improv and Games so that we can learn to love each other even more. Like Family <3”
—Monifa Lemons, poet and actor

And, finally, artists wished for the chance to grow as humans and creators, not just within themselves but within a community as a whole where each person can better the other.

“My holiday wish (mostly for myself but also) for the Columbia arts community is for the courage to be open. I know I can seem insular because of my own internal obstacles, but I think collaboration can elevate our art beyond our skillsets and help us fulfill and even exceed our creative concepts. Collaboration builds our artistic support systems and creates informed testing audiences. While I believe it’s important for one to make the art one needs to make without regard to how others may receive it, I believe it’s also nice to be able to ask for constructive criticism and maybe be given encouragement along the way to a project’s completion. I don’t know if I’ll personally gain this kind of courage by the time January rolls around (or ever), but I’m always hopeful I will and that others might, too!”
— Desirée Richardson (Death Ray Robin), musician

“As a social worker, I was trained to practice from a ‘strengths perspective.’ This perspective acknowledges challenges while encouraging us to identify and work with whatever resources we have access to within ourselves and the community. So, the gift I’m hopeful for this year is our collective vision to see the strengths that exist within the Columbia arts community and to employ those resources in fostering expressive projects that bring meaning to people’s lives.”
—Lang Owen, musician

“My Christmas wish for Columbia is…more people of skill and intellect and intuition and caring go see more shows and performances and exhibitions. These people would then share their thoughts and impressions with the rest of us. Helping to strengthen and spur the conversations between art and artists and patrons. CRITICS! I want more critics of every size, shape, gender, sex, color and perspective to do good work in Columbia.”
—Darion McCloud, performer and storyteller

“I want all the artists and soon-to-be artists in Columbia to find, embrace, and share their gift. I hope that even when it’s dark they see they are loved and supported.”
—Adam Corbett, musician and visual artist

From our family of artists and art supporters, we thank everyone for the love they have shown this community this year, and our Christmas wish for you today and always is that you have all the joy and support there is to offer. Merriest of Christmases—and have an extra boozy eggnog on us!

Concert in the Gardens, September 22nd at Seibels House & Garden

Cindi Boiter September 20, 2022

One of the few good things to come out of COVID was the collaboration between the South Carolina Philharmonic and the Historic Columbia Foundation. Unable to perform indoors at the Koger Center, the Phil teamed up with Historic Columbia to present concerts outside in such beautiful settings as The Hampton Preston gardens and the Seibels House & Gardens. My friends and I attended the “inaugural” event and haven’t missed a concert since.

Thursday’s program features a string quartet, presenting a concert of light classics. Columbia Repertory Dance Company will also be performing.

You can arrive at 1601 Richland St. any time after 6:00 p.m. The concert starts at 7:00. We always bring folding chairs and/or blankets, a picnic basket chock full of goodies, and bubbles. (What’s a picnic without bubbles?). Wine is available at the event for $5/glass, and you can become a member of the Historic Columbia Foundation at a discounted rate.

Tickets are $20.00 and may be purchased online.

See you there!

- Libby Campbell

Terrance Henderson: Storyteller, Worldbuilder, Artist-in-Residence

Bekah Rice August 27, 2022

“I am trying to walk in my fullness these days, embracing my evolution and still churning my complexities into my complexion”

If you have been to any performing arts show in Columbia, especially a dance or theater show, chances are you are extremely familiar with Terrance Henderson. Known for his contributions to the dance scene of Columbia through the Midlands Arts Conservatory, the Southeastern School of Ballet, and Trustus Theatre. In July, Henderson was named Artist in Residence at the Richland Library on Assembly Street.

While no stranger to residency, Henderson still aims to learn from every experience he can as he offers workshops and office hours at the library. “I’m specifically looking to do more artist residencies like this as I move forward in my career,” Henderson said. “I am in a bit of an evolution as an artist and seeing my work and my place in my community with new understanding.” He knows just how valuable these opportunities to showcase his skills really are in a city with a much larger dance scene than some give credit to.

The first month of residency has been a period of excitement for Henderson, and the amount of support for Henderson and what he does is extremely evident amongst the staff and visitors of the library. “Onboarding to Richland Library has been so exciting. I feel so supported here, and I have also already begun to make connections and have direct conversations with members of the community, which is part of what I’m most excited about for the residency,” he said.

Henderson looks forward to hearing the stories of those who come to his workshops or visit him in residency, in order to build that extra connection that he aims for. This connection with the audience is what Henderson hopes will help them understand how and why he does what he does that much more.

One of Henderson’s upcoming projects throughout his residency is a kind of performance museum: an immersive installation and experience that focuses on the concepts of legacy and renewal, and the conversation that can ensue between the two. As this project progresses, Henderson will host several workshops for audiences of differing ages as well as panels of artist talks with invited guests. These events coincide with another goal that Henderson has for his residency: elevating the discussion of art.

“One thing I’d like to do is be very intentional about raising the frequency of our discussion of art and the process and viewing of the performing arts,” he said, “I think we can widen our conversation and center some new and different voices about access, value, and collaboration.” Everyone views and reacts to the various fields of art in differing ways, but Henderson hopes to turn the idea that everything exists separately from each other under the umbrella of art on top of its head.

A key aspect of Henderson’s residency is the desire for him to overcome any challenges that stand in the way of him being seen: as a performer, a Black man, an artist, and everything in between. Visibility is integral to the work that Henderson aims to create and showcase. He is no stranger to shifting between interests and focuses within the realm of dance. “People make assumptions about you based on when or how they were introduced to your work and it’s hard to change minds,” he said. “And when you’re a Black artist, that’s even more true. Many people make assumptions about your work based on that alone.”

Social justice and the push for equity is extremely important to Henderson, who has also recently been reintroduced as an Equity Advisor at Trustus Theatre. Through his own work and efforts at the library, Henderson aims to amplify marginalized voices within the performing arts world and the Columbia arts community altogether. Many of the workshops he plans to host are oriented towards these goals, allowing for communities themselves to aid in making these differences happen.

Henderson’s residency focuses on the openness to conversation he has. He is open to conversations about art, personal experiences, opportunity, and so much more in order to fine tune what he wants to showcase in his work. His body of work functions as a diary for his own experiences and how he views himself.

“I am a storyteller and a world builder, and now more than ever, all of me goes into it. The good, the bad, the sure, the uncertain. I am trying to walk in my fullness these days, embracing my evolution and still churning my complexities into my complexion.” You can be a part of this journey too—and perhaps Henderson is the key to helping anyone on their own journey of self reflection.

Henderson remains as the Richland Library Artist in Residence until December 16, 2022. He has several workshops upcoming in September, including some oriented towards younger audiences and children.

COLUMBIA REPERTORY DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS “NEXT” FOR THREE EVENINGS AT CMFA ARTSPACE

Cindi Boiter August 26, 2022

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will present a full evening of dance for three nights at the CMFA Artspace, September 9 -11, 2022.

centers on the idea of progress, and features a number of pieces that reflect the nature of life and moving forward in today's climate.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform NEXT on Friday, September 9th, 2022 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, September 10th 2022, at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 11th, 2022 at 2PM at CMFA Artspace (914 Pulaski St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $30 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.coladance.com or https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5534979

With NEXT, Columbia Repertory Dance Company presents their third annual summer concert and first as a nonprofit organization. Featuring South Carolina choreographers Angela Gallo, Erin Bailey, Dale Lam, Ashlee Taylor and Artistic Director Stephanie Wilkins, the organization will mount an evening of high caliber entertainment that changes common perceptions of dance in Columbia, and follows their mission

statement in helping to both employ SC dance artists and ultimately aid in their retention in the state. The company will showcase a variety of work that represents snapshots of the emotional and physical world and offers something relatable but elevated as the world learns how to exist post-COVID. By collaborating with local artists and organizations and blending the highly physical with the highly emotional, Columbia

Repertory Dance Company aims to create an experience that draws people in and encourages them to make dance a regular part of their arts consumption.

In 2018 co-founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins founded the Columbia Summer Repertory Dance Company with a desire to offer dancers more options in a city focused heavily on ballet. They started with the financial sponsorship of the Jasper Project, a plan focused on summer performances (Columbia’s dance offseason) and a sold out debut performance in 2019 which was followed by a sold out concert in 2021.

The company has extended their season length and become a 501c3 non-profit organization. The group’s popularity among Columbia natives comes from their commitment to exploring refreshing narratives and styles of dance in their work.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform NEXT on Friday, September 9th, 2022 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, September 10th 2022, at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 11th, 2022 at 2PM at CMFA Artspace (914 Pulaski St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $30 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.coladance.com or https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5534979

**~ * ~**

BUY TICKETS HERE!

Ashley Bennett Talks Inclusivity, Immersion, and Interaction Before Upcoming Tiny Coven Performance

Bekah Rice July 28, 2022

On August 5, visitors and regulars of Art Bar will be treated to a performance by Columbia’s Tiny Coven Dance, a dance studio run by Ashley Bennett that prides itself on teaching fusion dance while also prioritizing diversity and inclusivity. We interviewed Ashley to find out more about what to expect from their upcoming show as well as some more information on what developed her passion for dance!

JASPER: What is your personal background within the world of dance? What was that "a-ha" moment that pushed you to pursue dance as a career?

BENNETT: I have wanted to be a dancer since I can remember. There is actually a photo of me on my 5th birthday, wearing a pink leotard with a tiny tutu, holding a ballerina teddy bear. In the photo, I’m wearing a gold “5” pin on my leotard and posing in “bras bas” (think arms down in a rounded position, teddy bear nestled into the crook of one arm). I hadn’t taken a dance lesson yet because we couldn’t afford it. My first ballet class was at age 12, while attending Davidson Fine Arts, a magnet school in Augusta, GA. While there, I studied modern dance with a Paraguayan instructor who also taught us traditional South American dances; since then, I was interested in multicultural folkloric dances. I remember seeing bellydancers at a festival and distinctly remember that there were moms performing in troupes with their teenage daughters and I thought that was really cool. I took a couple of lessons at a recreation center but wasn’t able to go regularly, so I didn’t end up studying bellydance seriously until after I graduated from high school.

JASPER: What can the audience expect from the performance at Art Bar?

BENNETT: The show is a musical treat. We used pretty much all international electronic music. Think Arabic and Turkish rhythms with full, bassy, moody layers. I was very careful to keep the music esoteric enough to transport the audience, while still being easy to listen to. Everything is right around heartbeat level, which is probably how I stay sane choreographing and rehearsing as much as I have been. I have not divided performances by skill level, and have instead interspersed less experienced dancers with company seniors; this way, I am staying just within my team’s abilities, while still pushing them to their limits.

JASPER: Have you performed at Art Bar before?

BENNETT: Art Bar was the home stage for the company I moved here to join, “Delirium,” which later became “Columbia Alternacirque,” and that was in 2007. I think it was about 2017 that we did about 9 monthly shows at Tiny Coven, in an event we called “Shrine Underground,” and it was a fast-paced choreography/rehearsal schedule that helped my senior troupe members sharpen their stage tools. In this period of time, my new performers became very efficient with training, as well as costume/makeup and stage craft.

JASPER: How would you describe the dance community in Columbia? Do you think it’s changed or grown over the past few years?

BENNETT: I feel like the dance community is still very much in an incubation stage, thanks to the pandemic. Our ability to rehearse and train together is dependent on everyone being available. We have still been struggling with missing dancers while they quarantine — but it’s coming back. I think bellydance is one of the least-respected dance forms, so it’s difficult to promote online. I refuse to market my classes in the frame of an “exotic new hobby,” and I also refuse to promote weight loss at my business, so the dancers that find me are coming to train because they like my dance style and want to be a part of it. That makes me a bit insular, and that’s okay. There are a couple of other bellydance instructors in town, and they know that my door is always open for collaboration, rehearsal space, cross-promoting events, etc. and we have been that way since before the pandemic

JASPER: What does the troupe do to ensure the audience has a unique experience watching you?

BENNETT: Art Bar is such a great space for blurring the lines between audience and performer. As much as we love ennui, the enthusiasm of a performer standing RIGHT next to you — breathless and awaiting their next cue — is probably my favorite thing about the venue. I remember, years ago, dancing there for a packed house. I finished my solo and made my way to the back of the audience, but couldn’t see. I climbed onto a chair and grabbed a man’s shoulder to stabilize me. A couple of days later, I read Jeffrey Day’s review of our show in The State, and he was the man whose shoulder I had grabbed. For someone who is so accustomed to being completely separate from the performers in professional dance shows, the experience was groundbreaking. He STILL reminds me of that story whenever we see each other and I still get warm and fuzzy.

Tiny Coven’s performance starts at 8:00pm on the 5th, and admission into the show is free! Support local bars and local artists by stopping by to check out a one-of-a-kind performance you won’t want to miss.

Facebook Event

An Evening with the Columbia Repertory Dance Company THIS SATURDAY

Cindi Boiter June 12, 2022

The Public is invited to an evening with the city’s newest professional dance organization, the Columbia Repertory Dance Company, on Saturday, June 18th at 7 pm at Columbia Music Festival Association - 914 Pulaski Street.

There will be snacks and adult beverages, as well as an opportunity to learn more about the dance company and its mission for performances and growth in the South Carolina Midlands. Attendees will also get an inside look at works in progress and meet new company members.

The event is hosted by the board of directors for the Columbia Repertory Dance Company including company founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins.

There is a suggested donation of $25 which can be made

online

or at the door.

WE DANCE - New Project by Wideman-Davis Dance Premieres at Tribeca Film Fest June 18th

Cindi Boiter May 30, 2022

By Christina Xan

Dancers, creators, professors, directors. Columbia couple Thaddeus Davis and Tanya Wideman-Davis have many titles. In their newest project, however, not only are they exploring a novel medium to them – film – but are stepping back from titles and stripping down to question what it means for them to inhabit the bodies they are in, where those bodies came from, and what those implications mean for all who migrate within America.

“We've been really thinking about patterns of migration and thinking about our families…how the shaping of the way we eat is different than the way we may have grown up,” Wideman-Davis reflects, “How we can figure out new pathways to merge old and new ways of thinking about food and have those communal experiences still be nurturing.

We Dance is a 12-minute experimental film that combines documentary, dialogue, imagery, and dance to share, less a narrative, and more a story—or perhaps more accurately, a series of stories. The film has three parts: in part 1, “Spin,” Wideman-Davis reflects on her grandmother’s home in Chicago; in part 2, “Rise,” Davis reflects on his grandmother’s home in Montgomery; and in part 3, “Hold,” the two reflect on their lives together.

“A big part of this didn't start out as a love story, but in the end, it was that. But it wasn't just about the love between the two of us, but the love for these pivotal women—Tanya's grandmother and mother and my mother and grandmother” Davis intimates, “People in our families who sustained us like food and allowed us to have these careers that we've had in dance and beyond.”

In the first two segments, each of the pair’s grandmothers are seen baking a staple in their history—pound cake and sweet potato pie. This focus on food is in many ways the hinge of the stories being told. Food is more than a substance for staying alive – it is life-defining. The process of sourcing and consuming food, the accessibility of food, and how food shifts across region and culture all define our bodies. For certain groups of people, like the black adults and elders featured in the video, food is a distinct way of finding, creating, and asserting identity.

While the women bake in the background, Wideman-Davis and Davis narrate, speaking words related to the cooking process, themes of their life, and dialogue they recall from these inspirational women. Stitched within the cooking and the words are images from the cities and surrounding areas these families call home – houses, cityscapes, rivers – as well as extemporaneous dance from the married pair.

Throughout the film, the two dance and speak their histories. And though this intimate portrait allows you to know the duo better, it is not only their story. “It's not just the black migratory patterns. That's what it references, but this is a part of the migratory patterns of people around the world,” Davis emphasizes.

One of their hopes in creating this film is that the viewer will be able to understand more about where they come from, their own migrations, and how each individual history is in some way interlaced with collective histories. What foods do you eat? How did what you ate shift as you moved from place to place? What did you take with you or leave behind? How does your body express what you consume? How do you dance?

For if food represents a part of our identity in which we take within us what is part of our culture and selves then dance is how we reveal outwards what is part of our culture and selves. In the migration process, wherever and whatever the reason in moving, we are doing just that—moving. Sometimes the world moves around us while sometimes we move around the world, but this film asks us to acknowledge and embrace the movement, learn how and when flow versus resist, all the while being grounded by what always moves with, in, and out of us—food.

This is exemplified in a scene towards the end of the short film where Wideman-Davis and Davis stand, completely still, hands clasped around each other’s, in white garb, as an Alabama river rushes fast and hard around them.

“There’s something about being in that water, at that specific space that was a segregated space,” Wideman-Davis ruminates, “To come back to it and to have to anchor yourself in the water with this current, knowing that it has all the racialized history and the deadly components that it could have had 20 years ago, us being there.”

It is this stunning tension that has gotten the attention of film festivals nationwide, with We Dance being accepted to the Oxford Film Festival, the Fort Myers Beach International Film Festival, the Experimental, Dance & Film Festival, the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, the Ouray International Film Festival, and, most excitingly, the Tribeca Film Festival, where it will premiere Saturday, June 18th.

The two’s hard work could not have been possible without director and cinematographer Ethan Payne and director and writer Brian Foster, all of whom met when Wideman-Davis and Davis were sanctioned by the Southern Foodways Alliance.

If you’d like to see the culmination of all their efforts and dive into a world that not only teaches you about the vulnerable movement of others but of yourself, starting June 8th, you can purchase a $25 ticket to all Tribeca shorts here: https://www.tribecafilm.com/films/we-dance-2022

COLUMBIA REPERTORY DANCE COMPANY MAKES CHARLESTON DEBUT AT CANNON PARK AS PICCOLO SPOLETO POP-UP SELECTION

Cindi Boiter May 25, 2022

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will make its Charleston debut at Cannon Park on May 29, 2022 as an official selection of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

This dance concert is presented as part of Piccolo Spoleto’s new Pop-Up program which transforms neighborhood parks and public places around Charleston into pop-up performance spaces.

This performance will also feature performances by Columbia pop band Say Femme with Charleston dancer and choreographer Jenny Broe opening.

The concert will begin at 7:00 PM at Cannon Park, and admission is free to the public.

In the company’s third season, Columbia Repertory Dance Company will be premiering new pieces from their 2022 season featuring works by Artistic Director Stephanie Wilkins. Attendees will experience athleticism and emotionally evocative performances that have become a trademark for the group over the last three years.

In 2018, co-founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins founded the Columbia Summer Repertory Dance Company with a desire to offer dancers more options in a city focused heavily on ballet. They started with the financial backing of a local arts organization, a plan focused on summer performances (Columbia’s dance offseason) and a sold out debut performance in 2019 which was followed by a sold out concert in 2020. In the past year, the company has extended their season length and become a 501c3 non-profit organization. The group’s popularity among Columbia natives comes from their commitment to exploring refreshing narratives and styles of dance in their work. The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform on Sunday, May 29, 2022 at 7:00 PM at Cannon Park (131 Rutledge Ave, Charleston, SC 29401). Admission is free for this public event, and more info can be found at http://www.piccolospoleto.com/ or at www.coladance.com.

A Midlands Gives Message from Cindi & Wade -- The Jasper Project's State of the Heart

Cindi Boiter April 30, 2022

Thank you!

As we approach Midlands Gives next week and you make your decisions on where to invest your gifts, we’d like to report back to you on how the Jasper Project has used the tokens of your kindness since last year.

First and foremost, we have published two 64-page issues of Jasper Magazine and we have another issue in design now that will be in your hands in a matter of weeks. These issues have reviewed, previewed, examined, explained, memorialized, and celebrated more than 100 of our Midlands-based artists. The issue coming your way will look at the art of Lindsay Radford, Quincy Pugh, Rebecca Horne, Lucy Bailey, Tyrone Geter, Diko Pekdemir-Lewis, Mike Miller, Jane Zenger, Josetra Baxter, Tamara Finkbeiner, Terri McCord, Juan Cruz, Saul Seibert, Rex Darling, Tam the Viibe, Desiree, Katera, Lang Owen, Hillmouse, Space Force, Candy Coffins, Admiral Radio, Carleen Maur, the mission of SCAC ED David Platts, and the international efforts of Columbian-founded dance organization, Artists for Africa.

We have published a dual volume of Fall Lines – a literary convergence, celebrating the prose and poetry of 60 SC writers, awarding the Broad River Prizes for Prose to Randy Spencer and Kasie Whitener and the Saluda River Prizes for Poetry to Angelo Geter and Lisa Hammond, while at the same time celebrating the photography of Crush Rush. And we have issued a call for Fall Lines 2022.

We have conceptualized and implemented a competition for the publication of a chapbook for a SC BIPOC writer in honor of Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer and the winner is being announced and celebrated as we speak. Board member Len Lawson brought us this beautiful idea and will edit the book which will be published this fall.

We have implemented another issue of the Play Right Series, with new board member Jon Tuttle issuing a call for an original, unpublished one-act script, overseeing the adjudication, and selecting young playwright Colby Quick as the winner. Nine community producers have joined director Chad Henderson and his cast to learn more about the page to stage process for theatre arts, and we will invite you to join us for a staged reading of Moon Swallower in August.

We have featured one artist per month in our virtual Tiny Gallery under the direction of board member Christina Xan, including artists whose work you know very well and artists whose work we think you’ll be happy to learn about including Gina Langston Brewer, Adam Corbett, Bohumila Augustinova, and more.

Because of the dedication of our amazing web maven and board member Bekah Rice, we have a website that is comprehensive, up-to-date, easy to maneuver, and quite lovely, if we do say so ourselves. Since last spring we have brought the good news of Columbia arts to you via more than 160 Online Jasper (previously blog) posts. And counting.

We threw a fabulous party to celebrate the 10th birthday of Jasper Magazine, and, with board member Laura Garner Hine’s incredible work, we welcomed more than 30 artists to demonstrate and celebrate their talents.

We have shown art for Columbia artists at Jasper Galleries that include Harbison Theatre, Motor Supply, also under the management of Laura Garner Hine, and our sidewalk gallery at the Meridian building conceptualized and realized by board member Bert Easter.

We have included the work of 25 (and counting) brilliant SC writers under the auspices of the Jasper Writes project, implemented in conjunction with Jasper poetry editor, Ed Madden.

We have helped a new non-profit spread its wings by serving as the fiscal agent to Columbia (Summer) Repertory Dance Company, which is now its own entity. Bye bye little birdie!

We have launched several new projects including:

A new weekly music column by Kevin Oliver called THE BEAT;
First Thursday featured artist exhibitions at Sound Bites Eatery – with artists including Marius Valdes, Ginny Merritt, and Quincy Pugh lined up for the next few months, and Alex Ruskell showing his work in May;
The monthly Jasper Poetry Salon hosted by Al Black at the One Columbia Co-Op;
Another monthly singer/songwriter happening called Front Porch Swing, also by Al Black, also at the One Columbia Co-Op.
Last Thanksgiving, we launched a weekly newsletter called Sundays with Jasper that keeps the community up-to-date on Jasper news and arts happenings in general. You can sign up for Sundays with Jasper here.

Of course, none of this could have been done without the support of our community and your recognition of the vital role grassroots arts organizations play in the landscape of an arts community.

We continue to vow to you that every penny that comes the way of the Jasper Project will go directly back into the greater Midlands area arts community as we keep our overhead close to zero, save for insurance and rent (when we have a brick-and-mortar home.) None of your generous funding goes to payroll, taxes, or nice desks and chairs. We work from our homes and from our hearts.

It's worked this way for 10 ½ years. We’re keeping at it as long as you let us.

Thank you for your continued support.

Cindi Boiter, Wade Sellers, and the entire board of the Jasper Project and staff of Jasper Magazine

Don't Miss Complexions Contemporary Ballet at Harbison Theatre!

Cindi Boiter February 9, 2022

One thing that anyone who knows anything about professional dance can agree on is that Columbia does not have enough contemporary ballet. Between the Tutu Wars and our dance scene being frozen in a time when full length fairytale ballets ruled the day, (read: the 1980s), we typically only get to see what the rest of the world of dance audiences sees when City Ballet does Body and Movement Explored (coming up soon!) or when the new Columbia Rep Dance Company performs.

Thankfully Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, under the direction of Kristin Wood Cobb, has a place in its heart for progressive and cutting edge performing arts, including dance!

Coming up on Friday February 19th and for one night only, Complexions Contemporary Dance Company will perform “Stardust: From Bach to Bowie” at Harbison’s state-of-the-art theatre, just off the highway in Irmo.

Rescheduled from the 2019-2020 season, Complexions presents Stardust From Bach to Bowie as a tribute to two fantastic artists who each founded his own musical hemisphere. The show includes "Star Dust," dedicated to the one and only David Bowie, plus an additional repertory set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach. This world-renowned company has been featured on So You Think You Can Dance in the U.S. and Australia.

Complexions was founded in 1994 by Master Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and the legendary Desmond Richardson with a singular approach to reinventing dance through a groundbreaking mix of methods, styles and cultures. Today, Complexions represents one of the most recognized, diverse, inclusive and respected performing arts brands in the World. Having presented an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement on 5-continents, over 20-countries, to over 20-million television viewers and to well over 300,000 people in live audiences, Complexions is poised to continue its mission to bring unity to the world one dance at a time.

Complexions has received numerous awards including The New York Times Critics’ Choice Award. It has appeared throughout the US, including the Joyce Theater/NY, Lincoln Center/NY, Brooklyn Academy of Music/NY, Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts/New Orleans, Paramount Theatre/Seattle, The Music Center/Los Angeles, Winspear Opera House/Dallas, Cutler Majestic Theater/Boston, New Victory Theater/NY, and Music Hall/Detroit, The Bolshoi Theater, The Kremlin, The Mikhailovsky Theater, Melbourne Arts Center, and will make it's debut at the Kennedy Center in 2017, as a part of Ballet Across America.

The Company has appeared at major European dance festivals including Italy’s Festival of Dance ,the Isle De Dance Festival in Paris, the Maison De La Dance Festival in Lyon, the Holland Dance Festival, Steps International Dance Festival in Switzerland, Łódź Biennale, Warsaw Ballet Festival, Kraków Spring Ballet Festival, the Dance Festival of Canary Islands/Spain, and the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur/Canada.

In addition, Complexions has toured extensively throughout the Baltic Regions, Korea, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Israel, Russia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Serbia, Jamaica, and Australia.

The company’s foremost innovation is that dance should be about removing boundaries, not reinforcing them. Whether it be the limiting traditions of a single style, period, venue, or culture, Complexions transcends them all, creating an open, continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of our world—and all its constituent cultures—as an interrelated whole.

In 2006, Complexions held their first Summer Intensive program, serving 80 students in its first year. The program has grown to multiple cities and serves over up to 600 students annually. Since 2009, a Winter Intensive was added to the roster, serving an additional 400 students, and CCB added its Pre- Professional Program in 2016. Complexions’ artistic directors and company members teach master classes throughout the world, sharing the Complexions technique with dancers of all levels.

Together, Rhoden and Richardson have created in Complexions an institution that embodies its historical moment, a sanctuary where those passionate about dance can celebrate its past while simultaneously building its future. In the 27 years since its inception, the company has born witness to a world that is becoming more fluid, more changeable, and more culturally interconnected than ever before—in other words, a world that is becoming more and more like Complexions itself.

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Before they take the stage at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College on February 18, the phenomenal dancers of Complexions Contemporary Ballet (CCB) will be in residence!

Dancers from the internationally renowned company will teach two 90-minute advanced master classes for advanced dancers from 1:30pm - 3pm. HT@MTC has partnered with the University of South Carolina to host the classes at the UofSC dance studios. The two classes will run concurrently and will be taught by Jillian Davis and Simon Plant of CCB. In addition, a workshop relating to Complexions' repertory and performance style, as well as topics such as improvisation and composition will be offered. Classes are open to University of South Carolina dance students. For more information, please contact the dance program at dance@sc.edu.

Dancers from CCB will also teach two 90-minute community/intermediate classes for dance school and some high school students from 3:30pm - 5pm. These classes will also take place at the UofSC dance studios. The two classes will run concurrently and will be taught by Timothy Stickney and Larissa Gerszke of Complexions. In addition, a workshop relating to CCB repertory and performance style, as well as topics such as improvisation and composition will be offered. Please sign up using the form below for more information about this class. There is no charge for the classes; however, dancers will need to sign waivers and wear a mask while in class.

Master Class: 1:30pm to 3pm | Friday, February 18

Community/Intermediate Class: 3:30pm to 5pm | Friday, February 18 (register here)