As an artist -- a creator who makes things where they hadn’t previously existed -- I believe it's my power and responsibility to imagine. In solidarity, I imagine a more equitable world and pledge to help build it. I pledge that my creative and collaborative work will never shame or diminish Black, Indigious and/or People of Color (BIPOC) and it will never protect White fragility. I am an anti-racist. My hope is that I can speak to fellow dance artists and audiences here on the Tulsa Modern Movement platform from a place of compassion as I invite you to join me: let’s chip away the layers of fear and ignorance and soften into patience, curiosity and radical love. If you’ve been following my work, you may have noticed that I frequently make dances that wrestle with questions of identity, belonging and equity. “Greenwood 1921” (2016), with poetry written and performed by Tony B., was about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the power of community in maintaining a life of dignity. “Mother Tongue” (2016) explored forced assimilation and subjugation of generations of BIPOC by White America. “Phenomenal Woman” (2019), a solo dance film celebrating Maya Angelou on International Women's Day and “How To Mutate” (2019), a collaboration with Candace G. Wiley about racism and privilege hoarding, are examples of recent works highlighting Black voices. I make work around these issues because it’s what I care deeply about and what inspires me; and I am deeply grateful for the other artists and donors who have made this work possible. I’m a gender non-conforming, bisexual who was raised atheist in the Bible Belt as a White child in mostly Black schools in North Tulsa. I learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre when I was only 8 years-old and that started a life-long quest in me to understand. I make work that wrestles with identity and belonging because *I* wrestle with identity and belonging; and because, while I understand that dances won’t take guns out of police hands, I believe that dance and other body-based art have a direct line to people’s empathy systems. I say: turn up the volume on empathy... Read the full statement from our Director at the link in our bio.

Free FB Live #streamingdanceclass Today at 1:00 Beginner/Intermediate Modern MIX We’ll start on the floor with exercises that focus on connecting movements through their anatomical foundations. We’ll then bring these tools to standing and progress to longer phrases of choreography focusing on coordination, musicality and expressive possibilities. Photo by @johnaferrante

We have 1 spot available in the Deep Dive series and 5 spots available in the open jam. Sign up today to reserve your spot. #contactimprovisation #contactimprov #tulsadance #somaticdance #somaticmovement #freehugs #intimacy #contemporarydance

Get your groove on tonight! 6:30-8 PM, FlyLoft (117 N Boston). By donation. Please PRE-REGISTER at link in bio.

Our Executive Artistic Director Ari Christopher and Tulsa Artist Fellow Candace Wiley, a poet/organizer from South Carolina are making work at the intersection of text and dance. Their work tells an embodied story that is less about confronting race issues and more about exploring how racism and privilege hoarding have shaped our identity as individuals in this country. The poetic text asks questions about what it means to be and who recieves the privilege of agency. Their collaboration in process, How To Mutate, layers metaphor and symbolism, and aims to turn up the volume of empathy and awareness to the insidious effect that our history of racism has on American lives. Ari is coming from her personal experience as a token white kid growing up in North Tulsa and the questions she’s wrestled with since starting kindergarten. Candace had a similar experience as the token black kid in white spaces. Together they offer a nuanced perspective. Thursday, August 15 6:30-7 PM FlyLoft, Studio 2 117 N. Boston WORKS/IN/PROCESS SERIES includes diverse programming led by Tulsa Artist Fellows. The community is invited to attend any/all of the free events and contribute to what’s being created. TAF is a George Kaiser Family Foundation initiative.

I’m looking for ways to communicate directly with the audiences’ body. Sometimes that requires performing difficult tasks, repeatedly, to take myself and other to a new state of being. This is a shot from How To Mutate. We’ll show the work next Thursday, Aug 15, 6:30 PM at FlyLoft (117 N Boston)

“How To Mutate” is almost ready. Please join us at the free showing at FlyLoft next Thursday, Aug 16 at 6:30-7 PM. (117 N Boston, in studio 2)