The 91̽»¨ Meany Center for Performing Arts will host the Washington, D.C.-based dance troupe Feb. 16-18 in Meany Hall. Teri Mumme, director of marketing and communications director for Meany Center, conducted an interview with the center’s executive director, about the production, the center’s ongoing mission — and the importance of honoring artist Jacob Lawrence in the 100^th year since his birth.

Why is this project important for Meany Center to undertake now?

I was approached by the dance company, Step Afrika!, with an opportunity to co-commission the remounting of a performance work “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence,” based on the painter Jacob Lawrence’s 60-panel – which portrays the movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North throughout the 20^th century.

The co-commission and presentation of Step Afrika!’s “The Migration” was to coincide with the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of Lawrence’s birth, in 2017. Already an exciting project, it was even more compelling because Lawrence had moved to Seattle in 1971 to teach at (what was then) the UW’s art department, and made a home in Seattle until his death in 2000. His influence at the 91̽»¨and in the city of Seattle was enormous; there are many of his works on campus, including a mural created specifically for the lobby of Meany Hall.

My colleague , director of the 91̽»¨, recounts that Lawrence was deeply drawn to the 91̽»¨â€” and that his dedication as an inspired educator was central to who he was. This project is important to undertake now, not only as part of the 100^th anniversary of Lawrence’s birth, but also as part of the UW’s participation in the vitally important conversations about African-American identity taking place across the country and the current migrations happening around the world, that are such a focus of contemporary national and international politics.

How does it support the new mission of Meany Center?

Meany Center endeavors to be a national model of innovative performance, public engagement, learning and creative research in the arts. Artistic excellence is a pillar of our mission and Jacob Lawrence and Step Afrika! demonstrate original, innovative and courageously realized examples of human creativity and expression.

The new mission of Meany Center is to nurture a culture of shared discovery through advancing interdisciplinary creative research — here as a supporter of the commission and the remounting of Step Afrika!’s important interdisciplinary work. Meany Center also forges powerful arts engagement and learning experiences by connecting diverse audiences and artists, and bold approaches to audience and student engagement. Step Afrika! will be engaging in a variety of campus and community activities throughout their residency, including a performance at SAM amidst the 60-panel Migration Series itself, where they are on display.

Meany Center is a national model of innovative performance, public engagement, learning and creative research in the arts. Artistic excellence is at the core of our mission and Step Afrika!’s use of Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series to create a new work is a perfect example of how one artist’s legacy inspires the next generation.

One of the goals of Meany Center is to nurture a culture of shared discovery by advancing creative research — here as a co-commissioner of the remounting of Step Afrika!’s important interdisciplinary work. We are also connecting audiences and artists in powerful arts engagement and learning experiences. Step Afrika! will be in residence at the UW, engaging in a variety of campus and community activities, including a performance at SAM, where the panels are currently on display.

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is also presenting a series of exhibitions and programs in honor of the Lawrence centenary, and the Henry Art Gallery will present an exhibition of Lawrence’s silkscreen prints “Eight Studies for the Book of Genesis.”

What is the production’s connection to the Seattle Art Museum’s exhibition of the Migration Series in February?

The connection to the Seattle Art Museum happened very organically. Chiyo Ishikawa, the deputy director for art at SAM and I happened to be on the same plane returning from Madrid in summer of 2015; I mentioned that we had just secured the co-commission and performance of Step Afrika!’s “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence” and would love to collaborate somehow. The 60-panel series of paintings — jointly owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the , a museum of modern art in Washington, D.C. — was on display at MOMA at that time.

The Phillips Collection was willing to explore the possibility of lending four or five panels from their half of Lawrence’s Migration Series to interested project partners, provided their facilities meet approved museum standards for adequate display parameters, which Meany’s did not.  I suggested to Chiyo that SAM explore this possibility as well as other types of collaborations that we might engage in.

Chiyo not only loved the idea, but shared that SAM’s American Curator, Patty Junker, had already been thinking about the Migration Series, and that they were going to see if they could borrow the entire series. It was our hope together that the timing could coincide with our presentation of Step Afrika!’s “The Migration.” After much back and forth with MOMA and The Phillips Collection, Chiyo confirmed that they could bring the entire series to Seattle for display.

Tell us a little about Step Afrika! and how they will be engaging dance in the exploration of this subject?

Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of . Stepping in the United States grew out of song and dance rituals practiced by historically African-American fraternities and sororities, beginning in the early 1900s. In addition to step shows and competitions on college campuses, today stepping can also be found in schools, churches and community organizations around the country. Step Afrika! takes this tradition and combines it with African foot dances such as gumboot, originally conceived by miners in South Africa as an alternative to drumming, which was banned by authorities.

In Step Afrika!’s “Migration,” dance and visual art come together, and the painted images — which are projected onto the stage — in essence come alive. The intention was to make the dancers seem to emerge directly from the panels that Lawrence painted. Step Afrika!’s artistic director, Brian Williams, did extensive research into not only Lawrence’s panels and methods, but also the Migration itself, for the troupe’s first mounting of the production in 2011.

Lawrence wanted the series to transcend the specifics of time and place and to express a timeless relevance and ultimately a sense of hopefulness. It is a very interdisciplinary work and in a sense it is a nod to the idea of a very wide range of art forms that influenced Lawrence and even of his use of color and rhythm in his painting. Step Afrika!’s “The Migration” starts by depicting an experience in the South and moves toward the North, but is not chronological. The idea of the train is central to the troupe’s interpretation, as it was the key mode of transportation throughout the Great Migration.

In stepping, there is a movement called Alpha Train, which is specific to one fraternity, and the step basically imitates the sound of the train. In addition, the history of stepping actually parallels the story of the migration — as people from the South coming to the North trying to get better educational opportunities started stepping in the black fraternities and sororities.

I just finished reading Isabel Wilkerson’s “,” an epic nonfiction rendering of the Great Migration which tells so many stories of black Americans fleeing the oppressive Jim Crow laws of the South, toward what they hoped was a better life with the promise of more stable working conditions, greater equity and the ability for their children to become educated. Of course what they found in their new communities was far from what what they had so desperately hoped and struggled for. I feel very moved being able to present this work at such an influential public university as the UW, which has provided a better life for many generations of struggling individuals and families.

I cannot think of a better way to honor the intention of Lawrence’s work as we celebrate his life and legacy.

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For more information about the Meany Center for the Performing Arts or Step Afrika!’s performance, visit .

The grant will support a Creative Fellowships Initiative, under which guest performing artist fellows will be recruited from around the world for one- to three-year residencies in dance, music and theater.

The initiative will mark the first time the UW’s performing arts units — the , , and (DXArts) — have joined together for an experiment of this scale.

The fellows will be chosen from among individuals and ensembles who are at the leading edge of contemporary performing arts and have significant experience in both creative development and education. Their work will be done though commissions, collaborations and performances, with an emphasis on crossing artistic disciplines.

Selection of the fellows will be collaborative; department chairs will act as leads with their faculty to create short lists of proposed artists, in consultation with , 91̽»¨World Series executive and artistic director.

“The Creative Fellowships Initiative builds on the 91̽»¨’s belief in innovation and the power of the arts to make positive change in the world,” said Gerald J. Baldasty, 91̽»¨interim provost and executive vice president. “The program so clearly supports 91̽»¨President Ana Mari Cauce’s mission to prepare the next generation of leaders through interdisciplinary learning that generates new knowledge and ideas.”

The residencies will take various forms, supporting both creative research and learning — whether working with or in view of students, part of a teaching residency or a commission or public premiere. The aim of the Creative Fellowships Initiative will be to encourage creative inquiry among fellows and scholars and researchers in other disciplines.

“In the STEM world we inhabit, research and innovation are seen as the domain of the sciences and technology,” said , professor and executive director of the School of Drama, “even as the values of art — creativity, collaboration and imaginative engagement with the unknown — are prized.

“This culture is both our challenge and opportunity, and we see these research-directed creative residencies as a way forward, both to serve our fields and to champion the values of art in the culture at large.”

Witt, who is lead investigator on the project with London, said, “We are deeply honored by Mellon’s partnership in providing opportunities for artists, faculty and students to engage in rigorous creative research. This important work will connect the arts, sciences and humanities in a shared process of discovery to advance the performing arts in our society.”

The 91̽»¨performance arts units will partner with the 91̽»¨World Series in these creative collaborations, while furthering their own work.

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This article was adapted from a by the 91̽»¨World Series. For more information, contact Teri Mumme, 91̽»¨World Series director of marketing and communications, at 206-685-0995 or tmumme@uw.edu.

The dance piece “Draft,” created by famed choreographer Robert Moses in collaboration with 91̽»¨ student and alumni dancers, is aptly named. It’s a work in progress — a draft indeed.

The movements audiences will see in the piece came from the dancers themselves, though encouraged and drawn out by Moses.

“They are carrying it with them,” said Moses. one of America’s leading choreographers, in a break between classes during his April campus visit. “I come to them and we start working, and the whole thing is on them, on their bodies. They already know. I just go and put it together — it’s a puzzle.”

This balance of ideas between dancer and choreographer seems to fuel Moses. He said, “I get 20 to 30 new ideas every day that I meet with these people.”

“Draft” is one of five dance pieces to be performed when , his dance troupe, performs in the Meany Studio Theatre May 29-31, presented by the . Three of the pieces are his; the other two are by Bliss Kohlmeyer (a 2011 91̽»¨Dance Program alumna) and Gregory P. Dawson, respectively. Eleven of the 16 local dancers in “Draft” are 91̽»¨students, three are alumni and two are from the community and not affiliated with the UW. They will be joined by members of the Robert Moses Kin company.

Moses is presented as part of the 91̽»¨World Series’ new , which is dedicated to showcasing emerging and influential artists and providing interactive educational opportunities for students. The series is sponsored by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

“‘Draft’ is just that — it is a work where each collaborating dancer has one hour to develop material in collaboration with Robert,” said Michelle Witt, 91̽»¨World Series director. “Its style and purpose are fluid and somewhat improvisatory. Some dancers work in groups, some individually, and the material is very much based on the movement possibilities and range of the individuals in the room.”

Founded in 1995 in San Francisco, Robert Moses’ Kin, his company, has won praise for its eclectic styles and subject matter. The troupe has used dance to explore urban and African-American culture, parentage and identity and even a biography in movement of author James Baldwin. A choreographer-in-residence at Stanford University since 2005, Moses has taught on college campuses across the nation.

He was assisted in this work by Todd Eckert, the Kin troupe’s artistic associate and rehearsal director.

Student Hilary Bowen, an undergraduate double majoring in dance and English who will perform in “Draft,” called the process “very collaborative, but it’s also extremely guided.

“The choreographers knew very much where they wanted to go with the movement, so they would take our individual movement styles and vocabulary and mold it to fit what they were looking for.”

Bowen said she loved the process of “constant change in movement” that Moses and Eckert offered: “During rehearsal we would go through maybe three or four genres of music, all with the same movement material. It was a challenge, but very interesting to learn to keep the integrity of the movement with different audio.”

Jennifer Salk, associate professor and chair of the , said such workshops with visiting artists have “a huge impact” on students for a relatively short time commitment. And that’s helpful, since most student dancers double-major and are very busy,

“It also allowed for some of our students who are just getting to know the department to be involved in a creative process with a choreographer even though they are just joining us,” Salk said. She said the dance program is grateful for such opportunities provided by the 91̽»¨World Series. “It is essential students get exposure from a broad swath of artists from all over the world.”

The dancers performed “Draft” three times in late April. Bowen said there may be subtle differences between the performances, “but it is still Robert Moses’ piece and as he was fond of saying to us, ‘you can do anything you want with the movement except break it.'”

What can audiences expect from “Draft”?

“If you are coming to see someone you know, you’re going to see a side of them that you didn’t know,” the choreographer said. “And ideally, the performers will do that as well.”

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Here is a video about “Draft” produced by UWVideo for the 91̽»¨World Series.