The March
By Big Dance Theater
Choreography by Tendayi Kuumba, Annie-B Parson, Donna Uchizono
What happens when we dance together? And what happens when we don’t?
An evening of dance comprised of three distinct dances created by three acclaimed choreographers. This intergenerational group: Tendayi Kuumba (recently seen in David Byrne’s American Utopia and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf), Big Dance Theater co-founder Annie-B Parson (David Byrne’s American Utopia), and Guggenheim Fellow Donna Uchizono (State of Heads) have joined forces to interrogate our very human compulsion to move together in time. Each dance maker experiments with “getting big” both in scale and emotion, moving as one voice, as one body, and the necessity behind this impulse.
Co-commission with PAC NYC, American Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival USA and The National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron).
Additional production support for The March is provided by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
Photo: Whitney Browne.
Dec 15
The Sharing Economy
Sara Pereira da Silva (Executive Director of Big Dance Theater) moderates a conversation with The March company members Stacy Dawson Stearns, Chanel Stone, Pamela Pietro, and Paz Tanjuaquio around horizontal, inclusive, and collaborative structures in dance and how these impact artists’ quality of living and sustainability.
Production contains flashing video and strobe light effects.
It’s hard to do justice to the freewheeling brilliance of Big Dance Theater.
—The New York Times
Big Dance Theater’s work is always surprising, always thought-provoking, and always a joy to watch.
—The Boston Globe
Choreographers:
Tendayi Kuumba
Chita Rivera Outstanding Female Dancer on Broadway 2022 as Lady in Brown in the Tony Nominated Broadway Revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Tendayi is an international dancer, choreographer, singer, & songwriter, & Spelman College grad.
Annie-B Parson
Annie-B Parson co-founded Obie and Bessie Award winning Big Dance Theater in 1991. Her work with Big Dance has been commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sadler’s Wells/London, The Old Vic/London, The National Theater of Paris/Chaillot, the Kitchen, The Museum of Contemporary Art/Chicago, The Walker Art Museum, and many other theaters.
Donna Uchizono
Donna Uchizono is a dance artist based in New York City and Artistic Director of Donna Uchizono Company, which has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.
Dancers:
Mawu Ama Ma'at Gora
Mawu Ama Ma’at Gora, MFA, is a Brooklyn, NY native currently residing in Philadelphia. As a black, queer, Caribbean, and multi hyphenate artist they have choreographed and conducted research globally. Their movement practice is rooted in West African dances deriving from Guinea and Senegal. The praxis they are currently building pulls away from monolithic thoughts of contemporary art. Conversely, it leans on multimodal methodologies to move through narrative linguistics rooted in rhythm, community and invitation.
Brooke Ashley
Brooke Ashley is a Brooklyn-based dancer with a BFA in dance from Florida State University. She has danced for choreographers Camille A. Brown, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Charles Anderson, and Louis Gaspard. Accomplishments include Gallim Moving Artist Residency, Smush Gallery Curatorial Fellowship in Dance, and Black Dance Stories Young Professional Experience featured artist. She has served on Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee and currently works for Urban Bush Women as their Development Associate.
Stacy Dawson Stearns
Stacy Dawson Stearns (she/they) is a Bessie Award winning artist known for their work with Big Dance Theater, David Neumann, Hal Hartley, Blacklips Performance Cult, and PsychOutDaDaGoGoFamily. Stacy has performed for audiences in 10 countries over the course of their 30-year career in festivals and stand-alone engagements. Stacy is currently developing new media with Channel B4, building a piece about being dead, and writing a handbook for artists. www.stacydawsonstearns.com
Natalie Green
Natalie Green has danced for Donna Uchizono, RoseAnne Spradlin, Anna Sperber, Tere O’Connor, Juliette Mapp, Heather Kravas, and Levi Gonzalez among others. Natalie is a 2023 Movement Research Parent Artist-in-Residence and has presented her own choreography at Dance Theater Workshop, The Chocolate Factory Theater, BAX, and Danspace Project’s Food for Thought series. Endless thanks to this incredible group of artists and to Rob Adkins and Trudell Green for their generosity, love, and time.
Meg Harper
Meg Harper (she/they) danced with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1968–1977) and the Lucinda Childs Dance Company (1979–1990). She began working with theater director Robert Wilson in 1994 and has performed in many of his works, most recently as Tiresias in Oedipus Rex. Harper has worked extensively with Andrew Ondrejcak, Marianna Kavallieratos, and Vicky Shick. They have an alter ego, Demu, who performs on the street and in art galleries.
Hsiao-Jou Tang
Hsiao-Jou was born and raised in Taiwan. She was a company member of Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion (2010–2012) and Doug Varone and Dancers (2012–2019). As a freelance dancer, Hsiao-Jou has had the pleasure of working with Trisha Brown Dance Company, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, John Jasperse, Netta Yerushalmy, Joanna Kotze, Nancy Bannon, Xan Burley+Alex Springer, and Luke Murphy-Attic Projects, among others. Hsiao-Jou is currently working with Monica Bill Barnes&Co., Stacy Spence, and 2nd Best Dance Company.
Kashia Kancey
Kashia Kancey is a Miami-born performer and choreographer, who earned her BFA in dance from New World School of the Arts. Kashia has worked with Rosie Herrera, Adele Myers, and Abby Zbikowski. Kashia is an apprentice with Urban Bush Women and is a company member with David Dorfman Dance. She is also a 2023 Gallim Moving Artist-in-Residence. Kashia is based in Brooklyn and continues to pursue her career as a performer and choreographer.
Joanna Kotze
Joanna Kotze is a Brooklyn-based, Bessie Award-winning dancer, choreographer, and educator. Outside of The March project, she currently dances with Kimberly Bartosik and Stacy Spence. Joanna has worked with Wally Cardona, Kota Yamazaki, Netta Yerushalmy, Sam Kim, Sarah Skaggs, Christopher Williams, the Metropolitan Opera ballet, Daniel Charon, Nina Winthrop, and others. Joanna’s choreography has been supported in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. by many grants, residencies, commissions, touring, and teaching opportunities. She is originally from South Africa and has a BA in architecture. www.joannakotze.com
Jennifer Nugent
Jen’s dancing is profoundly inspired by Daniel Lepkoff, Wendell Beavers, Bambi Anderson, Dale Andree, Patty Townsend, Janet Wong, Barbara Sloan, Linda Rogers Albritton, Ann Cummings, Patricia Cummings, and Beatrice LaVerne. Jennifer has been performing in NYC since 1998 with many artists and companies including Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Paul Matteson, David Dorfman Dance, and Martha Clarke. Jennifer is currently dancing with Faye Driscoll and teaches at Movement Research and Sarah Lawrence College.
Devin Oshiro
Devin Oshiro earned a BA in dance from California State University, Fullerton. She has enjoyed moving with Edisa Weeks, Joanna Kotze, Sumi Clements, Mike Esperanza, Reggie Wilson, Maija Garcia, Patrick Corbin, Keely Garfield, and more. Devin danced with Gibney Dance Company and now works with Gibney Community, which utilizes the arts for social action, specifically gender-based violence. She teaches movement workshops that promote self-care and engages young people in conversations around healthy relationships. @devinoshiro
Pamela Pietro
Independent artist and educator has received a BFA in dance from Florida State University and her MFA in dance with a minor in biomedical ethics from University of Washington. Pamela is chair and full arts professor at NYU Tisch Department of Dance where she received the prestigious David Payne-Carter Award for Teaching Excellence. As a dancer and performer, she has international exposure for both her teaching and solo performance work. Her research lies in the intersection of female embodiment and trauma.
Kendra Portier
Kendra Portier is a dance artist—a choreographer, educator, and performer. Born at home in Ohio, she has taught and performed across the world, cultivating a distinctive teaching practice and collaborating in projects with artists such as David Dorfman Dance, Jasmine Hearn, and Bandportier, among others. She is on faculty at the University of Maryland, where she was awarded the Maya Brin Professorship in Dance.
Jin Ju Song-Begin
Jin Ju Song-Begin is a choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher from Korea, whose work has been presented internationally in Korea, Japan, Singapore, and the U.S. Along with creating works for her company Da-On Dance, she has worked for many choreographers in NYC, including Tere O’Connor, Douglas Dunn + Dancers, Seán Curran Company, Cornfield Dance, and Netta Yerushalmy. She’s thrilled to be working with Big Dance Theater and these amazing artists.
Chanel Stone
Chanel Stone is a performer, choreographer, creator, and skater based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, she graduated in 2019 from LIU Brooklyn with a BFA in dance. In April of 2021, she became a resident artist with Triskelion Arts where her first solo show, (inner)bloom premiered in September of 2021. Chanel partnered with them in presenting Beyond the Black Box, an arts and culture organization she founded in spring 2022.
Paz Tanjuaquio
Paz Tanjuaquio has been active in New York City since 1990 as a choreographer, performer, educator, and artist. In 2000, she co-founded Topaz Arts, Inc. with Todd B. Richmond—a creative development space for contemporary performance and visual arts. She teaches movement at The New School and at NYU Tisch School of the Arts/Experimental Theater Wing. As a dancer, she has performed for Molissa Fenley, Marlies Yearby, and in works by Nicky Paraiso, Dean Moss, Carl Hancock Rux, among others. She is a member of NYS DanceForce and was formerly chair of the Bessie Awards Steering Committee. Her work has been presented in NYC, nationally, and internationally, and she will be presenting a new evening-length dance Silwetta (Jan 19-20, 2024) as part of Pioneers Go East Out-Front! Festival at Abrons Art Center. topazarts.org
Isabel Umali
Isabel has worked with LeeSaar the Company, the Francesca Harper Project, Gallim Dance, Liss Fain Dance creating work, originating roles, and touring nationally and internationally. Isabel performed for Punch Drunk’s Sleep No More and has appeared in various TV/print commercials and music videos. Isabel was a residency grantee of DSDT/Studio 2021–2022, bringing her back to the Bay Area as a bi-coastal artist. As a craniosacral and massage therapist, she enmeshes her rich dance training with principles of somatic healing practices.
devika v. wickremesinghe
devika v. wickremesinghe (she/they) is an artist, performer, and teacher originally from Staten Island, NY. Now based in Los Angeles, devika has worked with many wonderful artists coast to coast and has danced with Big Dance Theater since 2019. They are honored to share this stage with such luminous individuals, and privileged to share this moment with you. www.devikawickremesinghe.com/about