Virtual wimmin@work 2021

5 Years Strong! March 20th, 12-3 PM

Program Order

 

Session A - 12-1 pm

1. Welcome Kimberly Gaubault, Andrea E. Woods Valdés, and Angela Lee

2. Zoia Cisneros/Dance Improvisation

3. Reverend Dorothy N. Clark/”I’ve Got A Feeling!”

4. Zoom - Live African American Stepping wimmin@workshop with Dancer/Choreographer/Educator Kristi Vincent Johnson (30 min, 12:30-1 pm)

 

Session B - 1:00-2:00 pm

1. Kim Gaubault – Welcome Back

2. RN Harris F.L.I.G.H.T Drum/Dance Corps “Standing Together” Dancers: Dawsyn Smallwood & Dakota Smallwood Directed by Toya Chinfloo

3. Alex Lockhart/Vocal Performance

4. Souloworks Andrea E. Woods & Dancers featuring special guest writer mz. hattie gossett Dancefilm/Poem

5. Zoom - Live Songwriting wimmin@workshop with singer, songspeller, mythology fanatic, and multidisciplinary storyteller Kamara Thomas (30 min, 1:30-2 pm)

 

Session C 2:00-3pm

1. Kim Gaubault - Welcome Back

2. Toya Chinfloo and Asha Chinfloo Missy Elliot Challenge/Mother-Daughter Dance Duet

3. Zoom – Live wimmin@workshop with Clarissa Kussin – “Your Gut Health and Simple Strategies to Improve It “

4. Say Kola/Vocal performance featuring live instrumentation

5. Zoom - Live Krav Maga/Women’s Self Defense wimmin@workshop with Personal Trainer and Studio Owner Jaimie Lee (30 min, 2:28-2:58 pm)

6. Closing – Thank you! Full cast

 

wimmin@work 2021 is dedicated to Toni Morrison

 

Art invites us to take the journey beyond price, beyond costs into bearing witness to the world as it is and as it should be. Art invites us to know beauty and to solicit it from even the most tragic of circumstances. Art reminds us that we belong here. And if we serve, we last. My faith in art rivals my admiration for any other discourse. Its conversation with the public and among its various genres is critical to the understanding of what it means to care deeply and to be human completely. 

                  -Toni Morrison, Vanderbilt University, 2013

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Artists Info virtual wimmin@work 2021 March 20, 12-3 pm

Session A (12-1 pm)

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SESSION A

1. Welcome

 

Kimberly Gaubault (McCrae) holds a dual BA degree in English and African and African American Studies, from Duke University, with a minor in Women’s Studies, and a Major in Divinity, in Theology and the Arts, from Union Theological Seminary in NYC.  With an ethic of self-care and love at the center of everything, Kim engages in advocacy towards designing holistic ways of being, primarily and intentionally for Black women.  A mother, grandmother, wife, poet, teacher, preacher and intentional lover of humanity, she resides in North Carolina, US and Montego Bay, Jamaica implementing programs and workshops focused on positive personal and professional change. She has been participating in wimmin@work since its beginning in 2016.

 

2. Dancer/Improviser – Zoia Cisneros (7 minutes)

Title: Inside Out: Pray, Say, Release / De Adentro Pa'fuera: Ruego, Digo, Libero

 

About my work:

I was inspired to choreograph a five-minute dance from head to toe for this event.  But I found it a bit challenging while raising a teenager, an eleven-year-old, a toddler, and working full time as a Registered Nurse at a Mother/Baby Unit. I surrendered and settled with the idea to perform a dance improvisation work. The first part is a prayer, acknowledging my ancestors with Venezuelan drum dance to Alaé Alaó performed by Betsayda Machado and La Parranda El Clavo. Then I improvise to the song No Digo Mentiras written and composed by Puerto Rican poet Tite Curet Alonso that he gifted to Venezuelan vocalist Trina Medina to interpret. The dance ends with a "descarga," a pouring out to the improvised beats by Cuban percussionist Cyro Baptista's Estrellas featured in Cassandra Wilson's album Blue Light 'til Dawn.

 

Biography

Born and raised in the barrios of the west side of Caracas, Venezuela, Zoia Cisneros started dancing at a very young age with her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to Salsa, Pachanga, Joropo, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue, ‘Rigui,’ Boleros and Tambor. Relocated to small towns of Southern Maine in 1993, then to Philadelphia, Belize, New Mexico and North Carolina, she widened her study of dance exploring Jazz, Hip Hop, Belly Dance, West African, Afro-Cuban, Capoeira, Salsa and Modern dance. She has received fellowships for dance education and dance research working in Venezuela, Trinidad, Martinique, The Gambia, Senegal and Australia. Zoia is a mother of three, currently training in Samba with Brazilian instructors from Rio de Janeiro via Zoom while she also is a registered nurse at Duke Regional Hospital's Postpartum Unit. She is overjoyed to finally perform with wimmin@work!

 

Dedication:  To honor all the women of her family, ancestors and foremothers, Zoia dances in their names. To my great-grandmothers Mary O and Matilde and Dora. To my grandmothers Nancy and Rosa. To my mother Judith. To my Great Aunt Martina. To my Tías Taca, Milagros, Mary, Bella and Socorro. To my Madrina Yosmar. To my daughter Siboney.  To my sister Zurima. To my niece Zahira. To my mentor Eleanor. To the many women who hold me and support me. I perform on stage for the women whose talents remain at home while raising their children or at work to get the means to raise their children. I express myself to not let go of who I am and to encourage my children to be fearless.   

 

Title: Inside Out: Pray, Say, Release / De Adentro Pa'fuera: Ruego, Digo, Libero

Part 1:  Title: Pray – Ruego, Song:  Alaé Alaó, Traditional Performed by Betsayda Machado and La Parranda El Clavo

 

Part 2: Title:  Say – Digo, Song:  No Digo Mentiras, Written by Tite Curet Alonso, Interpreted by Trina Medina

 

Part 3: Title:  Release – Libero, Song: Estrellas, Performed by Cyro Baptista

 

3. Reverend Dorothy N. Clark/One woman theater (10 min)

Title - I’ve Got A Feeling

 

About the work: One woman presents a soliloquy about why she wears a wig. The dialogue is based on responses from women who responded to the question "why do you wear a wig?" The goal is to present a sometimes misunderstood picture of an important personal choice.

 

Biography 

Rev. Dorothy Clark is an ordained Baptist minister and Co/Pastor of Change Paths Ministry in Durham, NC. She is an accomplished actor, playwright and director. She was co/founder and artistic director of Renaissance Revival Theatre in Binghamton, NY, and founder and artistic director of Front Porch Entertainment in Durham, NC.  Rev. Clark has performed on stages and at church events throughout the Northeast, North Carolina and points South. Her latest project (in the works!) is a one-woman show that explores the intersection of theology and the human body.  In particular, how our relationship with God tempers our thoughts about our own body, and how that relationship shapes our response to would-be body shamers and critics.

 

4. Zoom Live African American Stepping wimmin@workshop with Dancer/Choreographer/Educator Kristi Vincent Johnson (30 min, 12:30-1 pm)

 

Biography

Kristi Vincent Johnson, a Louisiana native, is a performer, choreographer, creative director, and educator. She has worked with many artists such as Sabrina Madison-Cannon, Joe Alegado, Gaspard Louis, and Baba Chuck Davis. Her work has been commissioned by the Ernie Barnes Foundation and the American Dance Festival. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at North Carolina Central University and the founder of The Triangle Dance Project, a community-building nonprofit arts organization. Kristi Vincent Johnson received her MFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University and her Doctorate of Education in Kinesiology from UNC Greensboro.

wimmin@workshop description: African-American Stepping is a percussive dance style that began in African American fraternities and sororities in the mid-twentieth century. The movement style’s roots extend into dance forms such as the ring shout, the juba, tap, gumboot dancing, and military cadences. Its primary social significance within African American and Greek letter organizations’ culture is to promote identity and unity.

Dedications: I dedicate this work to my mother, Nan Vincent and grandmothers, Nan James and Masel Vincent.

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SESSION B – Kim welcome back

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6. RN Harris F.L.I.G.H.T Drum/Dance Corps Duet

Title: Standing Together

Performers: (sisters) Dawsyn Smallwood & Dakota Smallwood

Music: Stand Up from the HARRIET movie soundtrack

Directed by Toya Chinfloo

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About the Smallwood Sisters: The Smallwood sisters attend RN Harris Integrated Arts/Core Knowledge Magnet School. Dawsyn is a fourth-grader and her younger sister, Dakota is in the first grade. Dawsyn has been an RN Harris F.L.I.G.H.T. Drum & Dance Troupe member since her third-grade year. This is Dakota's debut as a member of RN Harris F.L.I.G.H.T.. Both have been dancing at RN Harris since their kindergarten school year.

We began developing this piece during our regular schedule synchronous dance class sessions for Black History Month. Over the past two years, our focus has been on the impact the Durham community leaders and historic sites have contributed to Black History.

 

The Smallwood sisters attended additional rehearsal sessions via zoom and social distanced to craft this performance piece for our virtual Black History program. During those sessions explored movements to represent conflict, community, protection, and uplift. The location of the video is the original entrance of RN Harris that was used by Ann Atwater and CP Ellis in 1971. With director Toya Chinfloo, they finalized the music selection together. Dawsyn and Dakota also had input in movement sequences in addition to their clothing used for this performance. Their grandmother, Mrs. Avis Hines and their older brother, Caiden Smallwood, ninth-grader at Durham Academy provided support in making this project come together as well. The Smallwood sister's partnership extends to display their entrepreneurship skills selling body butters under their company name Sister's Ad'.

 

7. Lexi Lockhart/Vocal Performance (4 minutes)

 

Title: The Fools Who Dream

Music: Backing track: The O'Neill Brothers Group [Instrumental]

• Song: Audition (The Fools Who Dream) - Emma Stone, La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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Biography/About this work

Lexi Lockhart is a junior student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro majoring in cultural anthropology. She recently studied abroad for a semester at Sogang University in South Korea to study global issues and the Korean language. Starting in 2018, Lockhart set out to create projects and experiences that manifest her creativity and curiosity. Her mission during her college career is to utilize art as healing from an anthropological perspective. As a young woman, Lockhart believes in the importance of vulnerability and expression for teens on their journey to self-discovery. Lockhart will be performing a vocal selection portraying the emotional arc of her young womanhood in hopes of inspiring other young women like herself. 
 

Dedications: Zelda Lockhart, Becca Jochims

 

8. Souloworks Andrea E. Woods & Dancers featuring very special guest writer ms. hattie gossett  Dancefilm/Poem (7 min)

 

Title: “this little girl she”

Written and performed by hattie gossett

Music: Direction and Video production by Andrea E. Woods Valdés

Dancers: Jessica Burroughs, Channel Croxton, and Aya Shabu

Filmed by Woods Valdés and Joan Francisco Valdés Santos

 

Andrea dedicates this work to ms. hattie gossett, my mother, grand and great grandmothers, Martha, Hattie May, Martha Mary and Annie and to wimmin who danced with guts and soul, Jenny Legon, Norma Miller, and Algia Mae Hinton.

 

Souloworks is contemporary African American folklore in performance. Woods is committed to performing in theaters was well as universities, community centers, schools, and libraries. The dances have a generous worldview while centralizing and affirming a positive reflection of African Diasporic culture. Woods calls her dances SOULOWORKS because they are works from the heart, works from the soul. Woods and gossett have collaborated for over 15 years. gossett’s publications include: presenting sister no blues (Firebrand Books 1988) and the immigrant suite: hey xenophobe! who you callin’ a foreigner? (Seven Stories Press 2007). gossett’s “this little girl she” is performed by Jessica Burroughs, Chanelle Croxton, Andrea E. Woods and Aya Shabu. www.souloworks.com

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Andrea E, Woos Valdés is the founder and Artistic Director of the wimmin@work project and the Director of the Duke Dance Program. Her work emphasized cultivating Black audience for Black wimmin's creative and scholarly work. The presence of Black women in America offers a rich and valuable landscape to explore. As a former dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, her creative process is linked to identity and representation. She developed Ile Oshún as an African Diaspora Cultural Institute or a hub where scholarship, creative projects, and performances invite collaborators and communities to create work that speaks to and of Black audience. 

 

hattie gossett is a Harlem-based writer/spoken word artist who frequently collaborates with choreographers. She has worked with Andrea E. Woods-Valdés since the mid 90s. Her work is performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (choreographed by Urban Bush Women). She has also collaborated with Pat Hall, Anita Gonzalez, and Marshall Swiney. Her plays have been presented at notable venues, including the Public Theater, Dixon Place, and Brown University's Rites and Reason. A veteran of the NuYoRican Poets Cafe, her two poetry collections are "presenting sister noblues" (Firebrand Books) and "the immigrant suite: hey xenophobe! who you calling a foreigner?" (7 Stories Press). A co-founding editor of Essence magazine and of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, her writings are published in important anthologies and journals. She earned an MFA in Musical Theater Writing at New York University where she Received a Yip Harburg Fellowship.

 

9. Zoom Live – Songwriting wimmin@workshop with singer, songspeller, mythology fanatic, and multidisciplinary storyteller Kamara Thomas (30 min, 1:30-2 pm)

Biography: Kamara Thomas is a singer, songspeller, mythology fanatic, and multidisciplinary storyteller. In 2021 she will release “Tularosa: An American Dreamtime”, a song-cycle exploring the mythology of the American West. Kamara also spearheads Country Soul Songbook, a project that spotlights under-represented voices in Country and Americana music and demonstrates how these genres spring from the roots and history of a diverse and multi-ethnic American identity.

 

wimmin@workshop description

Kamara will be leading a songwriting workshop that focuses on using the senses to create from your unique point of view. Learn easy techniques for getting your songwriting moving by anchoring into your body and sensing your immediate environment. Bring a piece of paper and a writing tool.

Please check out www.kamarathomas.com to find out more about Kamara’s music and activities.

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SESSION C – Kim welcome back 2-3 pm

 

11. Toya Chinfloo and Asha Chinfloo

Title: Missy Elliot Challenge/Mother-Daughter Dance Duet– (2 min)

Performers: Toya Chinfloo and Asha Chinfloo

Choreographer Sean Bankhead, Music- Cool Off by Missy Elliott

 

Dedication from Asha- I would like to dedicate this performance to my Nana, Lorraine Judith Carroll, for encouraging me to live fearlessly.

 

12. Zoom – Live wimmin@workshop with Clarissa Kussin

Title: Your Gut Health and Simple Strategies to Improve It (15 min)

 

Biography: Clarissa A. Kussin is a certified 500hr yoga and meditation teacher. She received her Doctor of Naturopathy at Trinity School of Natural Health. She received her health coaching education from the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. At Carolina Total Wellness, Clarissa provides patients with effective, solution-driven resources that are simple to practice consistently and that support sustainable health. She is passionate about the importance of self-care, preventative care and root-based repair. Clarissa focuses on stress relief, food as medicine, and mindfulness practices for vitality and ultimate health. Since 2009 she has worked extensively with people who have suffered the negative effects of demanding careers, relationships and poor lifestyle choices. Working with Clarissa, patients receive education, support and accountability to enhance their physical, emotional and spiritual wellness for optimum health and longevity.

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13. Say Kola/Vocal performance with instrumentation (5 min)

 

Title: “Reflection” written and performed By Say Kola

Music: Chris Irvin piano accompaniment @imchrisirvin on Instagram
 

Biography: Say Kola (Saydenu Tukan) is a choreographer, dancer, & singer/songwriter from Durham NC. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia and makes music from her perspective. Her music is available on all streaming platforms at Say Kola, and her Instagram is @saygotthemoves.

 

Dedication: This piece is dedicated to My Mami, spiritual mothers, aunties, wimmin mentors, cousins, sister girls, all of beautiful little wimmin students I was/am blessed enough to teach, all of the wimmin apart of this showcase, and wimmin audience members, and all of the wimmin across the world

 

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14. Zoom Live - Krav Maga/Women’s Self Defense wimmin@workshop with Personal Trainer and Studio Owner Jaimie Lee (30 min, 2:28-2:58 pm)

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wimmin@workshop description

“We can simply be called badasses lol. We can be described as average people who enjoy training with each other in order to build confidence, get in the best shape of our lives, and develop physical and mental toughness while encouraging each other and having fun.  All demonstrations are done safely but designed to be as realistic as possible.”

 

Dedication - My mom, Angela Lee for connecting me to this and supporting me always.

 

Biography: Jaimie Lee, a North Carolina native, has been a Krav Maga, Self-Defense Instructor and Personal Trainer since 2013.  Krav Maga is an Israeli-based fighting system mixing various martial arts to help everyday citizens better defend themselves against common attacks.  Her background includes instructor certifications from the Krav Maga Worldwide Federation, the Krav Maga Alliance Federation, Atlas Krav Maga, The Original Strength Institute, and the Wingate Institute in Israel. She served as lead instructor of Triangle Krav Maga in Durham before becoming the proud Co-Owner of The Coalition NC Self-Defense and Fitness Community located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  She trains and coaches clients with varying degrees of physical and emotional health, and assists them with developing a healthy lifestyle.  She works with adults and children and provides a safe, healthy and fun environment for all clients.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages available (@jaylizzle7 and @thecoalitionnc)

jaimie@thecoalitionnnc.com www.thecoalitionnc.com

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15. Closing - Andrea live on zoom w/Full Cast. Thank you!

 

wimmin@work is presented by Souloworks/Andrea E. Woods faculty research funds from

Duke University and The Hayti Heritage Center.

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