July 2019 Meet Our Artists: Emily Kikta and Peter Walker

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!

What inspires you?
We’re inspired by music and what visuals can be created through different sonic qualities or arrangements. We’re also inspired by the potential created by controlling the perspective of the audience through the camera. Dance for camera gives us complete control over the audiences’ experience in a way that nearly impossible in a large theater. We’re excited about what this can inspire us to create.

What are you proud of?
We’re proud of being able to be the sole creators through every step of our work. On most projects we film, direct, choreograph, edit, produce and even sometimes perform in our own videos. We’re proud that even if it’s only us on board for a project, we can still make it happen.

What are your goals?
We hope to expand what ballet can be through video and how video can impact how audiences experience live performance. We also hope to get more collaborators interested in exploring this other side of ballet creation with us.

Do you have any advice for your fellow artists?
Just start making the work. Stop thinking about it and just start figuring out how to make it a reality. Ask all the questions you can of anyone who might be able to answer them.

How does The Field help you?
The Field helps us direct potential donors to a legitimate and reputable site. We find people are more willing to give when they learn we’ve taken the time to set up an established account with The Field.

 ©Emily Kikta and Peter Walker

 Additional Viewing: SPAC Project 2018

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February 2019 Meet Our Artists: Theresa Ruth Howard

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!

Name: Theresa Ruth Howard

What do you do? 
I work as a Diversity Strategist and consultant assisting arts organizations better understand, design and implement DEI programs and initiatives. Pacific Northwest Ballet invited me to curate and facilitate a Townhall gathering entitled Beyond Ballet, a conversation investigating aesthetics, diversity, equity, and the efforts to redesign arts institutions. Presently I serve as a member of the Design and Facilitation Team on The Equity Project: Increasing the Presence of Blacks in Ballet, a three-year partnership program to support the advancement of racial equity in professional ballet companies. The Equity Project brings together a cohort of artistic and executive leaders from 21 large budget, professional ballet organizations for in-person meetings and coaching, with the purpose of increasing the presence of Blacks in ballet in all areas of the industry.

I am also the Founder & Curator of MoBBallet. MoBBallet preserves and presents the contributions of Blacks in ballet globally. MoBBallet’s inaugural project was a partnership with the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) organizing of the first annual audition for Black female ballet dancers at their 2015 conference in Denver. I helped facilitate the dialogue on diversity in ballet with the 15 major ballet organizations in participation.

In addition to MoBB’s online initiative to curate the stories of Black Ballet artists internationally, it presents panels, workshops and gatherings dedicated to building bridges of understanding and education between communities and cultures in dance and beyond. MoBBallet’s "DO YOU KNOW..." social media campaign introduces followers to Black ballet dancers and accomplishments that are not widely known in an effort broaden the awareness of the contribution of Blacks in ballet.

Follow @mobballet on Instagram

What inspires you?
We are inspired by the artists we advocate for. Bringing the legacy of Blacks in ballet out of the shadows and shining light on their virtuosity in the form is thrilling!

What are you proud of?
MoBBallet is proud that in the short time we have been in existence we have made an impact. We have forged relationships with large ballet organizations and have a seat at the table in discussions of diversity and inclusion – and we hope to encourage EQUITY.

What are your goals?
MoBBallet is working to bring forth more stories from the artist's mouths. We are working to have artist's pages for EVERY one of the 327 (so far) dancers on our Roll Call from which we aspire to build a mentoring program. There is work to be done!

Do you have any advice for your fellow artists?
We encourage all brown ballet artists to keep making stories for MoBBallet to tell. We are here to support and document your successes and will advocate for you every step of the way.

How does The Field help you?
The Field has been essential to our growth, and has provided guidance and support in our foundational moments. Thank you for your support.

All content © Theresa Ruth Howard / MoBBallet

Additional Viewing:

IABD's First Annual Audition for Women of Color HD

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September 2018 Meet Our Artists: Ranardo-Domeico Grays

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!

Name: Ranardo-Domeico Grays

What do you do?
Choreographer, Founder/Artistic Director of VISIONS Contemporary Ballet (VCB), an ethnically diverse company committed to presenting spiritually uplifting contemporary ballet works.

What are you proud of?
I am proud to be a four-year brain cancer survivor...and to be creatively flourishing. After taking two years off for treatment I returned to VCB with even more of a story to share. I have completed past works in progress and I'm presenting new work. I created Roots, a new work presented in 2016 and Through the Valley, presented in 2017 for our 10-year anniversary performance, Healing Works. Currently I am working on our fall 2018 Healing Works II program, which will include the newly completed Dash - Between, and will be presented at The Theatre at The Riverside Church in NYC on November 10.

For the first time since leaving my hometown of Detroit, Michigan to attend The Juilliard School in New York, I will be returning to present my company in a concert dedicated to the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on December 19 – bringing my company home to share my work with the community that first nurtured dance in my life!

What inspires you?
I feel that The Lord has given me the opportunity to present VISIONS Contemporary Ballet to the community with more focus and even more passion than ever. I choreograph to inspire and motivate people from all walks of life in the local community and beyond. I feel that art can be used for healing. When people see themselves in my work or tell me that they were moved, it motivates me to keep going and creating.

What are your goals?
My goal is to build VISIONS Contemporary Ballet to be a strong contemporary ballet company with a voice of encouragement and inspiration and to embark on a multi-city US and international tour to share my work on a broader spectrum.

Do you have any advice for your fellow artists?
We each have our own path. Continue to persevere, especially when you feel like giving up. As long as you are putting forth your best efforts, everything will fall into place eventually, even if it may not appear that way. Don't be distracted by things that don't seem to come through. They just may not be meant for you at that time.

How does The Field help you?
As an artistic director and choreographer, I am able to take advantage of opportunities that would not be available to me if I was not a Sponsored Artist of The Field. I was recently awarded the 2018-2019 UMEZ Grant as an inaugural recipient. I would not have been able to receive this important grant without the support of The Field.

Click to enlarge images. Photography by Andrew Williams

© Ranardo-Domeico Grays / VISIONS Contemporary Ballet

Additional Viewing: 

VISIONS Contemporary Ballet 10-year Anniversary Performance

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