The bright, cool-toned photo features Melanie George in the foreground and a blurred white door ajar in the background. Melanie, a Black woman with brown skin and coily hair, is photographed from the chest up. She is turned slightly to the left and gazing toward the camera with a playful, reserved smile. She is wearing bright red lipstick and nail polish, and her fingertips are lightly touching her sternum. Melanie is wearing a long-sleeve jumper zipped up at the center, with a white base and lively plant-like print. The print consists of multiple solid colored shapes--red, silver, navy and burgundy--each emanating from a central point with long, thin strands. She sports hexagon earrings of a thin metal material dangling an inch below her earlobes.
Listen to Melanie George: The Art of Returning on my Body and Soul podcast here.
Melanie
George is Associate Curator and Scholar in Residence at Jacob’s Pillow,
and guest curator for the 2024 American Dance Platform at the Joyce
Theater. As a dramaturg, she has contributed to projects by Raja Feather
Kelly, Helen Simoneau, Alice Sheppard, Urban Bush Women, and SW!NG OUT
among others. Melanie is featured in the documentary UpRooted: The
Journey of Jazz Dance and a contributing to scholar to Jazz Dance: A
History of the Roots and Branches, and Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist
Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century. Melanie is an
Assistant Professor of Dance at Rutgers University and has guest
lectured at Harvard University, the Yale School of Drama, and The
Juilliard School. In 2021, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s 30 over
30, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award from the
National Dance Education Organization. She is a performer/dramaturg with
The Jazz Continuum. https://www.melaniegeorge.org
A brown-skinned dancer, Bhumi B Patel, with long black hair in a black v-neck shirt, looks directly at the camera with a wide smile and slightly squinted eyes.
(photo: Robbie Sweeney)
A single brown-skinned dancer, Bhumi B Patel, is surrounded by a semi-circle of onlookers in chairs in a dance studio with a gray marley floor and brown beams across a white ceiling. Sunlight streams in from the windows while the dancer is crouched on the ground in all black, with both hands flat on the floor in front of her.
Listen to Bhumi B Patel: This world needs queerness on my Body and Soul podcast here.
Bhumi B Patel directs pateldanceworks and is a queer, desi, home-seeker, science fiction choreographer, movement artist, and writer. She has presented her choreography in the Bay Area, Manoa (Hawai’i), Los Angeles, New York, and Columbus (Ohio). Bhumi was a 2022-2023 Dance/USA Fellow and a 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree. She has presented at Dance Studies Association, Popular Culture Association, National Women’s Studies Association, and Asia Pacific Dance Festival, and has published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Contact Quarterly, and InDance. Her research on queer decoloniality and improvisation intersects with her performance-making as a way of tracing the deep connections of past, present, future to build communities of nourishment and care. pateldanceworks.org
a smiling dark-skinned black woman with pink faux locs and red glasses. pink lip gloss adorns her lips.
Body and Soul podcast next welcomes artist and educator olaiya olayemi who shares her view that resisting grind culture and living a sustainable life necessitates time for rest, play, and pleasure.
olaiya
olayemi is an antidisciplinary artist, radical educator, pleasure
anarchist, and erotic witch. she creates texts, images, sounds, and
movements. she currently lives in philadelphia, pa. www.pillowtalkwithaplaygurrrl.com
Dr. Nina Angela Mercer (photo: Fabiola Jean Louis)
A headshot of a caramel-honey-skinned Black woman who is looking directly into the camera. She is wearing her dark brown hair in many long twists. She is also wearing a maroon crocheted hat that has saffron and sky-blue accents crocheted into a panel at the edge of the hat. She is wearing deep maroon lipstick. She is not smiling fully, but she looks content. She is outside in daylight.
Dr. Mercer in Invocation for José Antonio Aponte, a video poem (photo: Toshi Sakai)
A black-and-white photograph of a caramel and honey-brown Black woman holding two tree branches in front of her face. The branches frame her face so that parts of the top and bottom of her face are covered by the two branches she holds. Only her eyes, cheeks, and nose are visible in the dim light. Her hair is engulfed in shadow. But her hands and collarbone are also visible. She wears a black dress with a v-neck collar. She has on a silver necklace with two charms hanging from it--one charm is a lapis lazuli gemstone, the other is a small silver bow and arrow.
Next on Body and Soul podcast, we visit with playwright and scholar Dr. Nina Angela Mercer who draws from family roots in Washington, DC and her lifelong fascination with mythology and world-building to examine how the stories a society or community tells about itself too often promote marginalization and erasure of history.
To listen to Part One of her Body and Soul episode--Dr. Nina Angela Mercer: Mythologies of Erasure---on Spotify, click here. And you can find Part Twohere.
Gypsy and the Bully Door at Georgetown University, 2023
Dr. Nina Angela Mercer is a culture worker, scholar, and interdisciplinary artist. Her plays include GUTTA BEAUTIFUL; ITAGUA MEJI: A ROAD AND A PRAYER; ELIJAHEEN BECOMES WIND; CHARISMA AT THE CROSSROADS; A COMPULSION FOR BREATHING; MOTHER WIT AND WATER-BORN; and GYPSY AND THE BULLY DOOR. She also collaborated with Urban Bush Women as writer and performer in HAINT BLU. Nina’s writing is published in The KillensReview of Arts & Letters; Black Renaissance Noire; Continuum: The Journal of African Diaspora Drama, Theatre, and Performance; A Gathering of the Tribes Magazine Online; Break Beat Poets Vol 2: Black Girl Magic; Are You Entertained? Black Popular Culture in the 21st Century; Performance Research Journal; Represent! New Plays for Multicultural Young People; and So We Can Know. She is currently a community engagement fellow at The Woodshed Center for Art, Thought, and Culture at Georgetown University's Racial Justice Institute. She is also the executive director of Ocean Ana Rising, Inc./OAR. For more information, visit her at www.ninaangelamercer.com.
Fantasia Barrino-Taylor as Celie in The Color Purple
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Welcome to my annual end-of-year round-up of cultural moments--not so much a Best-Of. More of a Here's What Meant A Lot to Me!
As always, you'll find some Better-Late-Than-Never items I've caught up with--like the first one, Justin Kurzel's 2015 film, Macbeth, with its searing performances and cinematography.
I also want to acknowledge and give huge thanks for the contributions of my guest speakers for Body and Soul podcast--Lisa La Touche, devynn emory, Maxine Montilus, george emilio sanchez, Samar Haddad King, and Vicky Shick, and so many more. Catch up with this series on Spotify here.
Clearly, the 2020s continue to compete with one another for which year will be voted the most challenging. But even as our times become more dire, the arts continue to testify for human qualities and contributions still worthy of celebration and emulation.
As we approach the New Year, I wish you the clarity, strength, and courage to envision, create, and make a meaningful difference in 2024 and beyond.
Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.
-- Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Justin Kurzel's Macbeth
Macbeth (2015), directed by Justin Kurzel (Netflix)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), directed by Edward Berger (Netflix)
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2022), directed by Joe Brewster and Michéle Stephenson (Sundance Film Festival 2023)
Danielle Deadwyler, star of Till
Roberta Flack
Till (2022), directed by Chinonye Chukwu (Amazon Prime Video)
American Masters: Roberta Flack, directed by Antonino D'Ambrosio (PBS)
The 1619 Project, various directors; executive produced by Nikole Hannah-Jones (Hulu)
Empire of Light, directed by Sam Mendes (HBO Max)
The Yanomami Struggle, curated by Thyago Nogueira, The Shed (February 3-April 16)
The Heisenberg Variations: Imagination, Invention, and Uncertainty, by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Julia S. Phelps Annual Lecture in the Arts and Humanities, Harvard Radcliffe Institute, February 16
Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes, directed by Peter Schnall (PBS)
Still from Women Talking
We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth, editors: Dahr Jamail and Stan Rushworth (The New Press, 2022)
The Elephant Whisperers, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves (Netflix)
Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley (2022)
Remember This, directed by Jeff Hutchens and Derek Goldman (PBS Great Performances)
left-to-right: Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, and John Abraham, Pathaan, Yash Raj Films
Pathaan, directed by Siddarth Anand (Amazon Prime Video)
Reggie, directed by Alexandria Stapleton (Amazon Prime Video)
Te Wheke, Atamira Dance Company, The Joyce Theater, March 29-April 2
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, The Joyce Theater, April 4-9
Next at The Kennedy Center: Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón, PBS, streaming April 14-May 12
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, directed by Laura Poitras, streaming on HBO Max
Trisha Brown Dance Company, The Joyce Theater, May 2-7
No Bears, directed by Jafar Panahi, streaming on The Criterion Channel
Author Robert Caro and editor Robert Gottlieb in Turn Every Page
Jeremy Strong, at left, and Brian Cox in Succession
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, directed by Lizzie Gottlieb on Amazon Prime Video (2022)
John Mulaney: Baby J, directed by Alex Timbers, streaming on Netflix
Mother by Eiko Otake, Green-Wood Cemetery, May 7
Kazunori Kumagai: Tap Into The Light, Gibney, May 11-13
The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey, directed by Linda Mendoza, streaming on Netflix
Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph Kosinski (2022), streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Cette maison, directed by Miryam Charles (2022), streaming on The Criterion Channel
DanceAfrica 2023: Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua, BAM, Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam, May 26-29
Succession, created by Jesse Armstrong, streaming on HBO Max
ear for eye, directed by debbie tucker green (2021), streaming on The Criterion Channel
SciGirls Stories: Black Women in STEM, directed by Adja Gildersleve, Maya Washington, and Bianca Rhodes, streaming on PBS, June 1-29
Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, directed by James House, streaming on PBS, June 2-30
Jury Duty, directed by Jake Szymanski, streaming on Amazon Prime Video
L-r: Jean Millington, June Darling, and June Millington of Fanny (photo: Marita Madeloni)
Fanny: The Right to Rock, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart, streaming on PBS, May 22-June 19
Assembly: Center for Dialogue and Exchange in the Arts, Danspace Project, June 9-10
Purple, Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, Lincoln Center's Summer for the City, June 9-25
Open Working Rehearsal, The Met Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Angel Blue and Russell Thomas, Carnegie Hall, June 22
The film Nimona, adapted from ND Stevenson's 2015 graphic novel
Vir Das: Landing, directed by Vir Das, streaming on Netflix
Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, streaming on Max
Call Me Kate, directed by Lorna Tucker, streaming on Netflix
Nimona, directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno, streaming on Netflix
Not My Enemy, directed by Kehinde Ishangi (2022), streaming on Vimeo
Authors Anita Kopacz (above) and Viola Davis
Shallow Waters by Anita Kopacz (Simon & Schuster, 2022)
Finding Me by Viola Davis (Harper Collins, 2022)
Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan
Kit Conner (left) and Joe Locke of Heartstopper
Heartstopper Season 2, streaming on Netflix
The Lincoln Lawyer, Seasons 1-2, streaming on Netflix
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig (2023)
The Half-God of Rainfall, by Inua Ellams, directed by Taibi Magar, at New York Theatre Workshop, July 14-August 20
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity, directed by Dorsay Alavi, streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Tree and Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India 200 BCE-400 CE., Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 21 -November 13
Pepón Osorio: My Beating Heart/ Mi corazón latiente, The New Museum, June 29-September 17
María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold, Brooklyn Museum, September 15, 2023–January 14, 2024
The Blue Caftan, directed by Miryam Touzani (2022), streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel
Lupin (Season 3), streaming on Netflix
David Byrne of Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense
Edisa Weeks in 3 Rites: Liberty
Stop Making Sense (Restored), directed by Jonathan Demme
3 Rites: Liberty, by Delirious Dances/Edisa Weeks, October 12-15
Silver Dollar Road, directed by Raoul Peck, streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Performer Ty Defoe
Author Héctor Tobar
Embracing Duality: Modern Indigenous Culture (starring Halluci Nation, Martha Redbone, and Ty Defoe), Next at The Kennedy Center, PBS
Deadloch, written by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Mythsd of "Latino," by Héctor Tobar (MCD Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023)
Nyad, directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, streaming on Netflix
The Bear (Season 2), streaming on Hulu
Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin in Rustin, streaming on Netflix
Stamped from the Beginning, directed by Roger Ross Williams, streaming on Netflix
Community of Parting, directed by Jane Jin Kaisen (2019), Vimeo
South to Black Power, directed by Sam Pollard and Llewellyn M. Smith (2023), Max
Maestro, directed by Bradley Cooper (2023)
Danzantes del Alba, Teatro Línea de Sombra, NYU Skirball Center, December 3
Lesbian Poetic Traditions: Judy Grahn, Julie R. Enszer, JP Howard, and Alicia Mountain, Live from NYPL, December 6
Beyoncé
Park Eun-bin of Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Teo Yoo and Greta Lee of Past Lives
Renaissance, directed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (2003)
Leave the World Behind, directed by Sam Esmail (2023), steaming on Netflix
She Said, directed by Maria Schrader (2022), streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Julian (2022) and Moth (2023), films by Kate Weare and Jack Flame Sorokin
Past Lives, directed by Celine Song (2023), streaming on Amazon Prime Video
The Color Purple, directed by Blitz Bazawule (2023)
Extraordinary Attorney Woo, directed by Yoo In-shik, streaming on Netflix from 2022