Inside the Dancer's Studio NCCAkron

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Tucson Arizona based flamenco movement artist Angelina Ramirez. Ramirez explores what it means to be a queer, latinx flamenca practicing in a traditional Roma/Gitano form of dance. As a teaching artist she is interested in the intersections of art and healing, focusing on work with elders of all abilities and integrated flamenco for neurodivergent participants. She has toured the world with renowned companies like Noche Flamenca and continues to produce events and festivals throughout Arizona.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Chicago Illinois-based, The Era Footwork Crew members Sterling “Steelo” Lofton and Brandon “Chief Manny” Calhoun. The Era Footwork Crew are pioneers of the battle dance known as Chicago footwork. They have performed from Japan to Peru, performing and choreographing alongside leading artists such as Chance the Rapper, DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, and Theaster Gates. The Era's work has been in short documentaries by VICE, the Canadian Broadcast Company, and the Chicago Tribune.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Phoenix, Arizona-based artist and activist Ruby Morales. Morales describes her work as that of a ‘dance artivist,’ where she investigates culturally informed teaching methods, circular leadership models, and her relationship with movement as a bgirl and in Mexican style cumbia. She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, most recently, she was honored by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals with the Spark of Change Award.

This special edition of Inside The Dancer’s Studio podcast features content from the Creative Administration Research (CAR) Summit Convening and was recorded at the Akron Art Museum. CAR is made possible through a multi-year grant from the Mellon Foundation. We join Christy Bolingbroke, our Executive / Artistic Director, in dialogue with Chicago, IL-based multidisciplinary, Kenyan-Indian, Canadian-American artist Brendan Fernandes and Akron Art Museum Curator Dr. Jeff Katzin. The trio foreground their conversation titled, “Against All Odds: Moving In Museums,” with visual artist, Keith Haring's work, which was on exhibit at the time. Using this common ground, they explore how visual artists and choreographers are dancing in and around museum spaces today.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with Brooklyn, New York-based interdisciplinary artist and the artistic director of Renegade Performance Group, André M. Zachery. Zachery speaks and writes on many topics including Afrofuturism, African Diaspora practices and philosophies, Black cultural aesthetics, technology in art and performance, and expanding the boundaries of art making within the community.

In this episode, NCCAkron's Executive/Artistic Director, Christy Bolingbroke enters the 'studio' with two members of the Saint Paul Minnesota-based company BRKFST Dance Company. Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman is the founder and Artistic Director of BRKFST and Joseph "MN Joe" Tran is a founding member of BRKFST and a member of Knuckleheads Cali breaking crew. BRKFST’s egalitarian and virtuosic choreographic collaboration is deeply rooted in the Hip Hop adage, "Each One Teach One": regardless of class, race, experience, age or gender, everyone remains both teacher and student.