(TAMPA, Fla., 2/22/2021) – Hillsborough Community College Visual and Performing Arts Series presents Time to Talk performed by Davalois Fearon, along with her company, Davalois Fearon Dance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 26, and Saturday, February 27.
Davalois Fearon continues to spread awareness nationally about the exclusion of African Americans from dance history and advocate for education reform through the performance of Time to Talk, a multimedia dance piece rooted in research on American history, dance history, racial identity formation and systemic racism. It is inspired by Artistic Director Davalois Fearon's own experience of oppression and racial bias within academia that she encountered in 2015. Dynamic fluid dance, live music, poetry and visual art are used as tools to bring attention to inequalities within the dance field and society at large.
Time to Talk aims to encourage audience members to question how they may knowingly or unknowingly contribute to maintaining social norms that support a status quo of inequity. It is choreographed and performed by Davalois Fearon and multi-reedist Mike McGinnis, who composed an original score that includes an arrangement of the song Skin, by Heidi Rodewald and Stew. In addition, McGinnis plays piano, saxophone and clarinet live and acts in the work. Interdisciplinary artist Andre Zachery created projection art based on American history and concert dance quotes, images and videos.
At the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, Fearon introduced the Davalois Fearon Dance Virtual Theatre, the company’s newest platform to present new and in-progress performances. Fearon has also introduced several new initiatives including Time to Talk with Davalois Fearon, a discursive series that highlights structural racism within dance, academia and society at large. This multidisciplinary series utilizes both arts and informed discourse to educate audiences on the many racial disparities that take place socially, environmentally and academically. Each episode will feature Fearon and a guest to talk about race and be featured in the virtual theatre. Additionally, in the 2021 season, Fearon established the Davalois Fearon Dance commissioning program which will provide several upcoming dancers and choreographers with the opportunity to present their work within the virtual theatre. Commissioned artists will also receive a stipend, redirect mentorship with Fearon, and administrative and production support.
To find out more about Time to Talk and the work of Davalois Fearon, visit her website at www.davaloisfearon.com.
About the artist
2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow finalist and Bessie awardee, Davalois Fearon, was named one of Dance Magazine’s 7 Up-and-Coming Black Dance Artists Who Should Be On Your Radar. Fearon is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer and educator born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx. She danced with Stephen Petronio from 2005-2017 and founded Davalois Fearon Dance in 2016 with the mission to push artistic and social boundaries. Her choreography is said to reflect a “tenacious virtuosity” which has been presented nationally and internationally, including at renowned New York City venues such as the Joyce Theatre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New Victory Theatre. Fearon has been featured in prestigious publications such as The New York Times and Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance by Ntozake Shange. Among others, Fearon has completed commissions for the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Harlem Stage and Barnard College and is a recipient of numerous awards, including New Music USA Project Grant, Map Fund Grant, Dance NYC Dance Advancement Fund Award, and the Alvin Ailey New Dance Direction Choreography Lab residency. She is a professor at Purchase College and the College of Staten Island. Full bio at www.davaloisfearon.com.
About Davalois Fearon Dance
Davalois Fearon Dance was founded in November 2016 with a mission to collaboratively create, perform and teach a versatile body of work that pushes both artistic and social boundaries. The company’s work draws from Ms. Fearon’s richly diverse movement vocabulary and aims to cultivate the next generation of dance artists. Her choreography is often driven by the intent to confront difficult issues and prompt contemplation. Multimedia elements are used to carry audiences on a journey of ideas. The company debuted at the prestigious Joyce Theater as a part of the American Dance Platform during the 2017 Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference. Davalois Fearon Dance has been presented throughout New York City, including by the Joyce Theater and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2017, the company was selected to be a part of the 2017 DanceMotion USA Professional Development Follow-On Program. It was awarded arts administration and professional development support during 2017-2019 from Pentacle as a participant in their pioneering, capacity-building research project, the Administrative Resource Team. In 2017, the company was also awarded the PearlDiving Movement Residency at PearlArts Studio in Pittsburgh, and in 2018, participated in the Suite/Space Residency at Mabou Mines.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Performance will be livestreamed via VIMEO. Tickets are $15 for general admission. HCC faculty, staff and students are free with a valid HCC ID. For information and to purchase tickets, visit www.hccfl.edu/vapaguestseries.
Hillsborough Community College serves more than 47,000 students annually at its five campuses located throughout Tampa Bay. The College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. For more information, visit hccfl.edu.