Project Photo Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernspark/albums/72157719655573430
Register via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/157615280547
RSVP via Facebook: https://fb.me/e/TaR81aDg
Lelis’s Youtube Page for virtual component of this project: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQuZIumFn1ccbeUOL-tioBw/videos
You Change Me is a dance that mutates through different bodies, celebrates the Rondo neighborhood, and flows in dance caravans through the neighborhood bringing dance nourishment. This virtual and in-person project starts with one dancer sharing a dance with 5 dancers who change it, record themselves doing the dance in Rondo/Frogtown and share it with 5 other dancers. It ends with 30 dancers recording dances in the neighborhood, mapping the landscape through dance. These dances will be compiled into a video collage shown online.
You Change Me begins with one dancer sharing a dance with 5 dancers who change it, record themselves doing the dance in Rondo/Frogtown and share it with 5 other dancers, ending up with 31 dancers recording dances in the neighborhood, mapping the landscape through dance. These dances get compiled into a video collage for all to see. These video collages will be posted to Lelis’s Youtube page, Northern Spark Kick-off page, and Northern Spark 2021 page. They are will be posted on the listed dates below at 1pm:
Sunday, June 13
Tuesday, June 15
Wednesday, June 16
Thursday, June 17
Friday, June 18
Sunday, June 20
Monday, June 21
Tuesday, June 22
Wednesday, June 23
Thursday, June 24
Friday, June 25
Sunday, June 27
On Saturday, June 12th, there is a Kick off dance social, led by 5 dancers for all bodies, capacities, ages, and backgrounds. We will get to know each other, dance together, and then take a dance walk through the neighborhood, visiting neighborhood hotspots and ending up at the Victoria Theater and Springboard for the Arts where we dance, socialize, and celebrate coming together. We are changed from body to body, and from interacting with each other.
Lelis Brito is a Venezuelan-American theater director, choreographer, educator, performer, and director of the Center for Moving Cultures. CMC advocates for tactile/kineesthetic knowledge in education and cultural transmission. As an artist, Brito has performed locally and internationally, creating over 70 original works, varying from 6 minutes to 3 hours.
Lelis’s websites: www.lelisbrito.com and www.centermovingcultures.org
Accessibility
This event includes optional touch-based dance learning for visually impaired individuals and limited mobility assistance.
You Change Me Collaborators
Dancers/Facilitators:
Lammi Aga is a first generation Oromo American who loves his culture thoroughly and holds it in the highest regard. He serves as the president of the Oromo Youth Association of Minnesota, an organization dedicated to empowering Oromo youth in the diaspora as well as spreading awareness of their Oromo-ness to every corner of the world.
“Osh” Andrea Fairbanks is Anishinaabe. This human dances jingle dress and fancy shawl at powwows but most enjoys dancing cumbia whenever the opportunity arises. Osh is also a self-proclaimed comedian & karaoke rockstar.
Arwen Wilder has been making dances in Minneapolis for 28 years. She believes deeply in collaboration which she does most often with Kristin Van Loon under the name HIJACK. Together they have performed dozens of dances in hundreds of places. She also likes raising children and teaching people about their bodies.
Kasia Lee is a 24 year old Hmong-American dance artist from Bloomington, MN. She has over 15 years of Kick, Jazz, Pom and traditional dance experience with Bloomington Kennedy High School, St. Catherine University and Dao Lan Dance Studio. Kasia is currently a coach with the Bloomington Kolleens dance team where she hopes to help young women build self confidence and reach their full potential through dance.
Leah Nelson (LN/Nubia) is a teaching artist, advocate and activist who encourages the artful-ness in All. She has worked with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Culture, co-founded B-Girl Be: A Celebration of Women in Hip-Hop and is a recipient of Rockefeller, McKnight, and other Fellowships. She intentionally bridges Brown and Black Artists to spaces they are not aware should support them and to help Spaces realize their invitation with the due respect Artists and Community deserve.
Video Editor/Artist
Winston is an editor, filmmaker, musician, and gardener with a B.A. in Film & Communication Studies. His work has played in several local film festivals and been broadcast across North America. He enjoys reading, film analysis, and baking.
Dance Collaborators:
Bernice Arias, Sandy Augustin, Jules Bither, Katie Capistrant, Asher Edes, Vladimir Garrido, Masanari Kawahara, Amoke Kubat, Munir Kahar, Laura Levinson, Teresa Zea Leguizamo, Marcela Michelle, Averie Mitchell-Brown, Meea Mosissa, Akiko Ostlund, Christie Marie Owens, Kat Purcell, Kari Rightfoot, Kim Schneider, Maren Ward, Mike Wilson.
Music for Video: Twister by DJ Zamboney
June 12 Videographer: Phil McGraw