CURRENT
Associate Professor, Christopher Newport University, Department of Theater and Dance, Newport News, VA.
EDUCATION
2008-2010 University of California, Riverside. M.F.A. in Experimental Choreography.
1999-2001 University of California, Los Angeles. M.A. in Dance, Department of World Arts and Cultures.
1992-1996 Amherst College. B.A. in European Studies.
FIELD RESEARCH
August 2023 South Africa: Cape Town, Gugulethu & Johannesburg, Soweto.
August 2017 Haiti: Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Jérémie.
July 2016 Cuba: Havana: Obini Batá, Rumba Morena & Matanzas: Nacupenda Malaica.
Dec. 2015 Haiti: Port-au-Prince, Gran Rue neighborhood, critical performance ethnography project with co-collaborators Dr. Dasha A. Chapman, Yonel Charles, and Jean-Sebastiene Duvilaire.
August 2013 Cuba: Havana, Matanzas, Camaguey, Santiago. Studied Afro-Cuban folkloric dance and song with Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, Ballet Folklorico de Oriente, Danza del Caribe, and Cutumba. Attended performances and ceremonies.
August 2011 Cuba: Havana and Matanzas. Studied Afro-Cuban folkloric dance, songs, and rhythms primarily in Yoruba, Arará, and Congo traditions with artists and professors in both locations including Antonio Figueroa of Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, Alfredo Yohani Ofarril, and Natividad Shivas de la Cruz.
April 2011 Haiti: Port-au-Prince, Souvnans (Souvenance Mystique), and Cabaret.
March 2008 Haiti: Port-au-Prince and Souvnans (Souvenance Mystique)/Gonaives. Spent six days at Lakou Souvnans in the Artibonite Valley (outside Gonaives) for this community’s annual weeklong Vodou ceremonies honoring the Dahomean traditions. Four days in Port-au-Prince. Took dance class with Vivianne Gauthier.
July 2007 Haiti: Port-au-Prince and Sodo (Saut d’Eau). Participated in annual pilgrimage to sacred waterfalls. Four days in Sodo, four days in Port-au-Prince.
July 2006 Cuba: Havana. Studied Afro-Cuban folkloric dance, songs, salsa (casino), for two weeks and attended a Lucumì ceremony including oro seco. Instructors included members of Yoruba Andabo, Jennyselt Galata, Ranses Charon Hechavarria, and Raices Profundas director Juan de Dios.
DANCE TRAINING
Afro-Cuban: Ifé Michelle, VA, 2014-Present; Danys “La Mora” Perez, Manhattan, 2005-2015; Antonio Figueroa of Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, 2013 & 2011, Alfredo Yohani Ofarril and Natividad Shivas de la Cruz, 2011 in Havana; Kati Hernàndez, LA, 2008-2010. Obbalubbe Felix “Pupy” Insua, Jacob’s Pillow 2004 & NYC 2004-2007; Richard Gonzalez, Manhattan, 2003-2010; studied in La Habana, Cuba with Juan de Dios of Raices Profundas and Jennyselt Galata and Ramses Hechevarría of Yoruba Andabo, Summer 2006; Rosamaria Roberts, Jacob’s Pillow summer 2004; Teresita Domé Perez, UCLA, Fall/Winter 1999/2000.
Haitian: Peniel Guerrier, NYC, 2004-present; Julio Jean, NYC, 2002-2004 & 2014-present; Mikerline Pierre, NYC, 2002-2008; Jean Leon Destiné, Jacob’s Pillow 2004; Nadia Dieudonné, NYC, 2004-2006; Pierre Desramaux, NYC, Spring 2005; Lionel St. Surin, NYC, 2002-2005; Rol’hans Innocent and Fabienne Dumel, Brooklyn, NY Jan.-May 2002.
Ballet: Kat Wildish, Alvin Ailey Studios, NYC 2007-2012; Kelli King, UCR, 2008-2010; Various teachers at Dancespace, NYC, 2002-2004; Jim Martin, White Mtn. Dance Festival, Summer 2000; Rebecca Lazier, UCLA, 2000-2001; Nancy Baldwin, Cecchetti, Lebanon School of Dance, CT, 1988-’90; Barbara Johnson, Vaganova, Windham Ballet Co., CT, 1980-1988.
Modern/Postmodern: Ron Brown, NYC 2007-2013; Joe Goode, UCR 2009, UCLA 2000; Ned Williams, Dunham Technique. NYC, 2004; various teachers at Movement Research, NYC, 2001-2003; Miguel Gutierrez, Manhattan, 2001-2002; Cheng-Chieh Yu, UCLA, 2000-2001; Bill T. Jones workshop at UCLA, spring 2001; Laura Glen, White Mtn. Dance Festival, Summer 2000; Rebecca Lazier, UCLA, 2000-2001; Kim Epifano, UCLA, 1999-2000.
Brazilian: Samba: Quenia Ribeiro, Manhattan, 2003. Capoeira Angola: Eldio “Cabello” Rolim, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Summer 2000. Maculélé,Tisza Coelho, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Summer 2000.
West African: Ismael Kouyate (Guinea), NYC 2010, Vado Diomande (Ivory Coast), NYC 2005/2006; Lamine Thiam (Senegal), Sabar, Jacob’s Pillow 2004, NYC 2003; Julio Letao (Angola), Jacob’s Pillow, Summer 2000; Nzingha Camara (Guinea), UCLA, 1999-2000; Mouminatou Camara (Guinea), workshops in 1999 and 2001; Abdoulaye Sylla (Guinea), Hartford, CT, 2004, and 1997-99; Marilyn Middleton Sylla, Mount Holyoke College, MA, 1994-1996.
Contact Improvisation: Movement Research classes and jams, Manhattan, 2001-2002; Shel Wagner Rasch, UCLA, 2000-2001; Nina Martin, UCLA, 1999-2000.
Improvisation: Simone Forti, UCLA, 2001.
YOGA TRAINING
200 Hr. TT: Eileen Muir, 200 hr. Yoga Alliance Teacher Certification, Karuna, Northampton, MA, March 2005.
Radiant Child TT: Shakta Kaur Khalsa, Level I and II completed at Kripalu, July 2007.
Vinyasa: Various teachers in New York, since 2001.
Dharma Mittra: Dharma Mittra, NYC, 2006.
Iyengar: Iyengar Yoga Institute, NYC, 2006-2007.
Kundalini: Siri Sevak Kaur Khalsa, May 2003-March 2004, Shakta Kaur, July 2007.
Ashtanga: Shiva Rea, UCLA, Jan.-June 2001.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2023-pres. Christopher Newport University, Associate Professor of Dance, Department of Performing Arts. Teaching Afro-Caribbean Folklore, Modern I & II, Dance History Writing Intensive, Dance of the African Diaspora, Honors Seminar in Critical Dance Studies, Production in Dance.
2022-2023 Interim-Associate Chair, Department of Performing Arts, Christopher Newport University.
Fall 2017-2022 Christopher Newport University, Associate Professor of Dance, Department of Theater and Dance. Teaching Afro-Caribbean Folklore, Modern I & II, Dance History Writing Intensive, Sacred Dance of the African Diaspora, Honors Seminar in Critical Dance Studies.
Fall 2011-2017 Christopher Newport University, Assistant Professor of Dance, Department of Theater and Dance. Teaching Afro-Caribbean Folklore, Modern, Ballet, Dance History, Sacred Dance of the African Diaspora.
Spring 2010 University of California, Riverside, TA. Department of Dance, DNCE 5: Introduction to Dance.
Fall 2009 Riverside City College, Guest Artist. Choreographed and set Haitian folkloric piece Seremoni Yanvalou (Yanvalou Ceremony) on 21 dancers in the Dance Touring Ensemble.
Fall/Sp. 2009 University of California, Riverside, TA. Department of Dance, DNCE 5: Introduction to Dance.
Fall 2007 Springfield College, Guest Artist/10-week residency. Choreographed and set on 10 student dancers Sodo Mirak based on my experiences in Sodo, Haiti.
2007-2008 New York University, Yoga.
Fall 2006 Connecticut College, Adjunct Faculty. Department of Dance. DAN 166 & 266, World Dance of a Selected Culture. Afro-Caribbean Dance: An Introduction to the Cuban Yoruba Tradition.
Fall 2006 Springfield College, Guest Artist/10-week residency. Choreographed and set on 14 students Afro-Caribbean influenced piece, Ogún!.
Spring 2006 Connecticut College, Adjunct Faculty. Department of Dance. DAN 166 & 266, World Dance of a Selected Culture. Introduction to Haitian Folkloric Dance of the Diaspora.
Spring 2005 Hartford Conservatory Diploma Program, Adjunct Faculty. Improvisation.
2004-2005 Springfield College, Adjunct Faculty. Department of Movement and Sports Studies. MOSK 230: Approaches to Dance Education. Required course for Phys. Ed. education majors.
2004-2005 Yale University, Physical Education Department, Haitian Dance.
2004-2005 Yale University, Physical Education Department, Restorative Yoga.
CREATIVE SCHOLARSHIP, CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE
March 2023 World Culture Festival performance of “Yemayá | Olokún: Surfacing of Self” performed with Omiyemi Green, CNU students, and five live musicians, VA Beach Convention Center.
March 2023 “Ancestral Journeys: Yemayá/Olokún’s Surfacing of Self” CNU Annual Dance Concert, Peebles Theater, March 23 & 24. Inspired by Cuban Yoruba embodied wisdom, we dance the divine forces of the ocean representing life, self-love, perseverance, and that which lies in our depths.
Jan. 2023 “Yemayá Guiro,” screened as part of “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Christopher Newport University.
Apr. 2022 Dance of the Orcas, screened as part of the African and Diaspora Religious Studies Association annual conference, virtual screening April 24.
Apr. 2022 Dance of the Orcas, screened at the Ampersand International Arts Festival, William & Mary, April 10.
Feb./March 2022 “A Conversation around ‘Celebration, Struggle, Beauty, Blackness: A Work in Progress’ with Taylor Hayes and Tamiyah McClary,” presented at the Suffolk Public Library as part of African American Heritage Month and Women’s History Month.
Oct. 2021 “Tributaries,” collaboration with Tè Glise Collective, screendance presented at American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) annual conference, San Diego, CA, Oct. 28.
Oct. 2021 “Tributaries,” collaboration with Tè Glise Collective, screendance presented at Dance Studies Association (DSA) annual conference, Galvanazing Dance Studies: Building Antiracist Praxis, Transformative Connections, and Movements of Radical Care, New Brunswick, NJ, Oct. 15 & 16.
Oct. 2021 “Celebration, Struggle, Beauty, Blackness: A Work in Progress (Version II),” invited as part of keynote address at the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG) Annual Conference, with CNU students Taylor Hayes and Tamiyah McClary, Oct. 9.
Sept. 2021 Dance of the Orcas, screened at the Afrikana Independent Film Festival, Richmond, VA.
Apr./May 2021 Dance of the Orcas, choreography, directed by Omiyemi Artisia Green, produced by William and Mary, Omiwerx, and TheaterCNU, streamed virtually April 28-May 2.
March 2021 “Celebration, Struggle, Beauty, Blackness: A Work in Progress,” CNU Annual Dance Concert, virtually streamed, March 26 & 27.
Nov. 2019 Dance of the Orcas, choreography, directed by Omiyemi Artisia Green, presented at ASWAD conference, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
April 2019 “A Virginia Company,” Co-directed with Grace Godwin and aligned with American Evolution’s 1619 Commemoration, Studio Theatre, CNU.
March 2019 “Roots/Routes,” TheaterCNU 10thAnnual Dance Concert, Peebles Theater, CNU.
June 2018 “Zanj Yo (Angels),” Field Studies, Florida State University funded, Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY.
June 2018 “Tè Glise, Exploring Relational Ecologies of Cultural Practice through Haiti-New Orleans Connections,” New Orleans Jazz Museum at The Mint, New Orleans, LA.
May 2018 “Tè Glise (Sliding Land),” Presented by A Studio in the Woods, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.
Feb. 2018 “Dream Clinic,” Virginia Stage Company and Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Hermitage Museum and Gardens and Virginia Stage Company, Norfolk, VA, Hermitage Museum and Gardens. (February 4 - March 10, 2018).
March 2018 “Konbit: A Selection of Haitian Dances,” CNU annual dance concert, Peebles Theater, CNU.
Oct. 2017 “Dances of the Orishas: Eleguá, Ogún, Ochún,” Commonwealth Auditorium, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, Oct. 11.
August 2017 “Rele listwa demanbre | Plas Dumas, Jérémie (Summoning the historical source | Place Dumas, Jérémie),”Grand'Anse Il Faut Bouger, Jérémie, Grand'Anse, Haiti, Place Dumas, Jérémie (site specific).
June 2017 “Searching for magic (m’ap tann ou),” Field Studies,Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY.
March 2017 “Solidarity,” CNU annual dance concert, Peebles Theater, Newport News, VA, March 23 & 24.
Sept. 2016 “Hands Up | Oyá Power,” NEON Festival, Norfolk, VA, Sept. 16.
August 2016 “Duet” for The Line: Art for Social Change, Virginia Stage Company Education Arts Outreach Dept., Slover Library, Norfolk, VA, August 21, 2016.
July 2016 “Divine Waters,” Choreography for Norfolk FestEvents’ and Virginia Stage Company’s Midsummer Fantasy Festival, Sailors, Sonnets, and Sprites, directed by Patrick Mullins, Town Point Park, July 29-31, 2016.
May 2016 Study No.1: Lines and Circles, Field Studies, Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, New York, NY, May 26, 2016.
May 2016 Study No.1: Lines and Circles, Field Studies, Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, May 25, 2016.
April 2016 Waters In Our Midst: A Dance Performance full program of work presented in relation to WATER exhibit by photographer Edward Burtynsky at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, April 23.
Dec. 2015 Activating Petwo’s Kinesthetic Imagination: Dancing Revolution and Forging Lakou in the Gran Rue, a performance collaboration as part of the 4th Ghetto Biennale, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Oct. 2015 Gede lecture, workshop, and performance with students for Day of the Dead event at Peninsula Fine Arts Center (PFAC), Newport News, VA, Oct. 31, 2015.
Oct. 2015 Living Murals, ArtPile collaboration for NEON Festival, Oct. 16 & 17, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA.
Sept. 2015 Suspended Experience, part of WHRO The Scene, at Work | Release, Norfolk, VA, Sept. 11.
July 2015 Choreographed Norfolk Festevents Mid-Summer Fantasy Festival Light Seeking Light, directed by Patrick Mullins, Town Point Park, July 24-26, 2015, Norfolk, VA.
June 2015 Yemayá, DROM, New York, NY, June 10.
June 2015 Suspended Experience, Field Studies, Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, June 5 & 6.
May 2015 Yanvalou, Ibo, Rara performed for Haitian Flag Day celebration, Norfolk, VA, May 16.
March 2015 Sacred Waters | Yemayá y Ochún performed for A Delicate Balance CNU annual dance concert, Music and Theater Hall, Ferguson Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA.
July 2014 Choreographed Virginia Stage Company Moon Take Thy Flight based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Town Point Park/Waterside, Norfolk, VA. July 25-27, 2014.
June 2014 Offering for Oshun & Yemayá performed as part of ArtPile #3, The Hague, Norfolk, VA, June 29.
June 2014 Obatala/Danbala: An Encounter performed as part of “Crossing Boundaries” at Dixon Place, NY, NY. June 24.
May 2014 Oba Obatala as part of Field Studies, Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY. May 30 & 31.
May 2014 Oshun at the Water: Deconstructed performed at Stockley Gardens Arts Festival at The Hague, Norfolk, VA, May 18.
May 2014 Oshun at the Water performed at Stockley Gardens Arts Festival at The Hague, Norfolk, VA, May 17.
April 2014 Co-choreographed Virginia Stage Company Gala event A Centennial Affair: Celebrating 100 Years of the Wells Theater, Wells Theater, Norfolk, VA. April 26, 2014.
March 2014 Obatalá y Ochún performed for A Delicate Balance, CNU’s annual dance concert, Music and Theater Hall, Ferguson Center, Christopher Newport University.
Dec 2013 A Christmas Carol, choreography. Production by Virginia Stage Company, Norfolk, VA.
July 2013 The Tempest, choreography. Production by Virginia Stage Company. July 26-28, Norfolk, VA.
May 2013 Ossain | Ceremony (Norfolk, VA – April 2013) performed for ArtPile, Fawn St Studios, Norfolk, VA.
March 2013 Afrofunk Groove performed for A Delicate Balance, CNU’s annual dance concert accompanied by Kelly Rossum; March 21-22.
March 2013 Haitian Fight Song (Zepol & Petwo) performed for A Delicate Balance, CNU’s annual dance concert accompanied by CNU Jazz Ensemble directed by Kelly Rossum; March 21-22.
Feb. 2013 Based on the poem “Danza Negra” by Luis Palés Matos a collaboration between Lourdes Travieso-Parker and Johnny Finn with student dancers performed for Symposium on African and Caribbean Diaspora Culture and Performance, CNU Studio Theater Feb. 28, 2013.
Nov. 2012 Bubble created in collaboration with Suzanne Wiltgen, choreographer and Kelly Rossum, composer. Performed at Christopher Newport University Nov. 9th & Virginia Tech Nov. 15th.
May 2012 …Inside the Skirt performed at “Crossing Boundaries,” curated by Marcia Monroe at Dixon Place, Manhattan; May 29.
March 2012 Yanvalou: Bagay yo Kongole (Things Change) performed for A Delicate Balance, CNU’s annual dance concert accompanied by Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre; March 22-23.
March 2012 Ritmo y Sabor Afro-Cubano performed for A Delicate Balance, CNU’s annual dance concert accompanied by Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre and Jose Conde. Ritmo y Sabor performed by Jose Conde; March 22-23.
July/Oct 2011 Je Wouj (Red Eyes), Guest artist with Mayami Folklorico in collaboration with Annie Hollingsworth, Director. Performed at Wynwood Art Fair, Miami, October 22, 2011.
Sep 2010 Rete Trankil. Collaboration with Jennifer Brogle Jones and Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre performed at QuikSnap at the Rover Soho, Manhattan, September 10-12, 2010.
June 2010 Ocean, Ogou, Ossagne. Solo performed at Culturele Werkgroep Stein, Urmond, the Netherlands.
June 2010 Reverberations. Collaboration with Prof. René Lysloff and UCR Javanese Gamelan, performed at University of California, Riverside University Theater, June 4.
April/May 2010 Kolaborasyon l Haiti. Evening-length work with cast of 10 dancers and two drummers performed at University of California, Riverside Performance Lab April 29 – May 1.
Feb. 2009 Souvnans: Embodied Remembrance…A Memory Choreographed. 10-minute experimental video based on my experiences at Souvnans, the weeklong Vodou ceremony held outside of Gonaives, Haiti.
Aug. 2009 Arc of Night. Performed at Gallery-Loft 138, NY, NY, August 27.
Feb. 2009 Memwa Ayisyen (Haitian Memories): Remix Part 1. Performed at UC Riverside, Feb. 20-22.
Feb. 2009 Longing. Performed at Ethel Walker School, Feb. 20-21, Simsbury, CT.
Nov. 2007 Sodo Mirak. Performed at Springfield College Nov. 16-18, Springfield, MA.
Nov. 2006 Ogun! Created while a Guest Artist at Springfield College, Springfield, MA. Performed November 17-19 at Palmer Auditorium.
April 2001 post. Collaboration with singer/songwriter Jeff Blaney. Performed Kaufman Hall, UCLA, 1st annual “Culture Crossing.”
March 2000 This Time. Collaboration with singer/songwriter Lily Wilson. Performed at The Electric Lodge, Venice, CA, “Sister Celebration: First Annual Festival for International Women’s Day.”
July 1999 Mime. Choreographed and performed part for the play, “The Millennium Only a Mother Could Save,” written by Bantum, Doubleday, Dell novelist, G.G. Garth, Directed by Nicole Marshall. Performed at Coronet Theater, Hollywood, CA.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed work
2019 “Embodiment, Reciprocity, and Reception: Shakespeare Adaptations in a Black Atlantic Context,” co-authored with Denise Gillman in The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Dance,edited by Dr. Lynsey McCulloch and Dr. Brandon Shaw published by Oxford U. Press. (Co-Authored Chapter)
2017 “Dancing Petwo in the Ghetto: A Polyphonic Reflection on a Collaborative Performance in Port-au-Prince,” co-authored with Dr. Dasha A. Chapman (primary author), Yonel Charles, and Sebastien Duvilaire in Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory, Vol. 27, no. 2, May 2017. (Co-Authored Journal Article)
2016 “Roots / Routes / Rasin: Rural Vodou and the Sacred Tree as Metaphor for the Multiplicity of Styles in Mizik Rasin and Folkloric Dance in Haiti and the Diaspora.” In Vodou in the Haitian Experience: A Black Atlantic Perspective, edited by Dr. Celucien L. Joseph and Nixon S. Cleophat, published by Lexington Books of Rowman & Littlefield. (Book Chapter)
2015 “The Cultural Legacies of Slavery in Virginia: Advancing Geo-Literacy in an Interdisciplinary Context” co-authored with Dr. Johnny Finn is the introduction to a special issue of The Geography Teacher, Vol. 12 Issue 4, 2015. (Co-authored Journal Article)
2015 “Teaching Race, Place, and History through Culture and Performance,” co-authored with Dr. Johnny Finn, Evan Goetz, and Lisa Gibson, part of special issue of The Geography Teacher, Vol. 12 Issue 4, 2015. (Co-authored Journal Article)
2015 “Teaching Race, Place, and History through Landscape,” a second article co-authored with same group with Dr. Finn as primary author for our special edition of The Geography Teacher, Vol. 12 Issue 4, 2015. (Co-authored Journal Article)
Forthcoming
2023 “The Sacred Mapou: Landscape and Choreography at Souvnans,” chapter to be included in the anthology, Oxford Handbook of Black Dance, edited by Dr. Thomas DeFrantz, Oxford University Press.
Non-peer-reviewed work
2015 “Inscribing/Inscribed: Bodies and Landscape in the Ritual of Embodied Remembrance at Souvenance Mystique” published in Society for Dance History Scholars and Congress on Research in Dance conference proceedings, Cambridge U. Press. Feb. 20, 2015.
2012 “New York – Souvnans – Riverside: The Triangular Route of a Bicoastal Collaboration” published in Society for Dance History Scholars conference proceedings, Dance and the Social City, Cambridge U. Press. Spring 2012.
2008-Present Continued online publishing of creative scholarship and research at www.youtube.com/mamazile, https://vimeo.com/annmazzocca, www.annmazzocca.com.
2008 Souvenance Mystique. Blog including history, context, personal experiences, and videos from Souvenance Mystique, Gonaives, Haiti. www.souvenancemystique.blogspot.com
2004 Mazzocca, Augustus, Terence Buckley, & Ann Mazzocca. Haitian Dance Fantasy. A collaborative art book produced at University of CT, Storrs and London College of Communication, London. Provided text and concept. Exhibited at the Dodd Center and Benton Museum, Storrs, CT; London; Vienna; and Krakow.
MASTER CLASSES AND PAPER PRESENTATIONS
Aug. 2023 “Carrying Kongo - Haiti - New Orleans: Embodied Routes of African Cultural Practice through Collaborative and Place-Based Music, Dance, Performance” with Dasha Chapman, Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, Phil Rodriguez presented/performed at Performance Studies International (PSi) Annual Conference, Uhambo Luyazilawula: Embodied Wandering Practices, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nov. 2022 “From Tè Glise to Tributaries: Embodied Reflections on Migration, Transformation, and Survival Amidst Tumult” with Dasha Chapman. Presented as part of the Working Group, Disaster and the Body at the American Society of Theatre Research Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Oct. 2022 “Bodily Writing and Witnessing in Relation,” presented as part of the HUB, Co-Imagining Cross-Cultural and Anti-Colonial Research: Looking for Radical Pedagogies and Artistic Micro-activisms at the Dance Studies Association Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.
Oct. 2022 “Kinesthetic Empathy: Moving in Relation,” presented to Newport News Public School Theater and Dance teachers during a professional development day at Ferguson Center for the Arts, CNU.
July 2022 “The Role of Memory, Local Colonial History, Geography, and Landscape in Shaping the Development of Dance of the Orcas,” presented with Omiyemi Artisia Green at the African Theatre Association Annual Conference, Voyages in Postcolonial African and African Diasporic Theatre Practice, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda (virtual), July 21-23.
Oct. 2021 “Celebration, Struggle, Beauty, Blackness: Bodily Writing and Witnessing in Relation” Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG) Annual Conference, Oct. 8.
Oct. 2019 “Tè Glise, Tè Tremble: Relational Ecologies of Cultural Practice in Haiti-New Orleans Connections,” collaborative panel session with Dasha Chapman and Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, Haitian Studies Association annual conference, University of FL, Gainesville, FL, Oct. 17.
Sept. 2019 “Oyu Oro’s Siete Mares: Embodied Memory and the Transmission of Sacred Knowledge through Folkloric Performance,” paper presentation at KOSANBA annual conference, Duke University, Durham, NC, Sept. 20.
April 2019 “Virginia Company: Devising Dance and Music,” A Virginia Company: Salon Series,Studio Theater, CNU, April 7.
Feb. 2018 “The Politics of Intercultural Performance: Recalling Dismembered Histories in Jeremie, Haiti,” Dance Black Joy: Global Affirmations and Defiance, CADD Third Bi-Annual Conference, Collegium for African Diaspora Dance, Duke University, Durham, NC, Feb. 18.
Nov. 2017 “Forging Lakou in the Grand Rue: Performance, Difference, and Vodou,” Vodou in the Twenty-First Century: Identity and Challenges, KOSANBA Annual Conference, Xavier University, New Orleans, LA, Nov. 3.
Oct. 2017 Guest teacher/choreographer, Dance and Africana Studies Departments, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, Afro-Cuban Folklore, Oct. 9 & 10.
August 2017 Guest teacher at Grand’Anse: Il Faut Bougerdirected by Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, Jérémie, Haiti, yoga and modern, Aug. 9-12.
April 2017 “Activating Petwo’s Kinesthetic Imagination in Port-au-Prince: Performance, Revolution, and Vodou, presented with Dasha Chapman and Sebastien Duvilaire at the 15thAnnual Africana Studies Symposium, Performing Africana Art and Culture: Repression, Resistance, and Renewal, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, April 6-7.
Nov 2016 “Activating Petwo’s Kinesthetic Imagination: Collaboration and Conversation,” presented with Dasha Chapman, CORD/SDHS Annual Conference, Beyond Authenticity and Appropriation: Bodies, Authorship and Choreographies of Transmission, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, Nov. 3-6.
May 2016 “Dancing Petwo in the Ghetto” Arms Music Center, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, May 28, 2016.
May 2016 “Dancing Petwo in the Ghetto” presented with Dasha Chapman at Field Studies #3,Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, New York, NY, May 26, 2016.
March 2016 “Oyá and the Cuban Female Orishas: The Embodiment of Individual and Communal Power within the Black Lives Matter Movement,” presented at the Conference on the Global Status of Women and Girls, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, March 5.
Feb. 2016 “Oyá and the Cuban Female Orishas: The Embodiment of Individual and Communal Power,” presented at the 5thAnnual Symposium on African and Caribbean Diaspora: Culture and Performance, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, February 24.
Oct. 2015 “Embodied Inscription/Inscribed Bodies: Body and Landscape as Sites of Memory, History, and Presence in Haitian Vodou and its Diaspora” presented at KOSANBA’s annual conference, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada, Oct. 21-22, 2015.
May 2015 "Embodying Intimacy and Distance in Afro-Caribbean Sacred Folkloric Dance" presented at the 40th annual Caribbean Studies Association conference, New Orleans, LA, May 25, 2015.
March 2015 Old Dominion University, Master Class in Afro-Cuban Dance for Dance Majors, Dept. of Communications and Theatre Arts. March 20, 2015.
July 2014 Co-presented “The Cultural Legacies of Slavery in Virginia: Advancing Geo-Literacy in an Interdisciplinary Context” at annual conference for the National Council for Geographic Education, Memphis, TN. July 31, 2014.
Feb. 2014 Co-organized and presented Oshun and the Bee at 3rd annual interdisciplinary Symposium on African and Caribbean Diaspora: Culture and Performance, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA. Feb. 24, 2014.
Feb. 2014 Virginia Commonwealth University Afro-Caribbean master class as part of weekend workshopsThe Africanist Aesthetic Legacy in Contemporary Culture and Performance, Richmond, VA. Feb. 23, 2014.
Feb. 2014 Dancing the African Diaspora Conference presented “Sacred Mapou: Routes of Memory in the Haitian Vodou Ceremony of Souvnans” at Duke University, Durham, NC. Feb. 7, 2014.
Nov. 2013 Mellon Lecture Series, Center for Ideas and Society, invited to present “Dancing Beyond Borders: Translating Caribbean Corporeality” at University of California, Riverside, CA. Nov. 18, 2013.
Nov. 2013 Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) and Society for Dance History Scholars (SDHS) joint conference presented as part of roundtable, “Rooted Routes: Revealing the Caribbean Social Body as Dance Praxis,” Riverside, CA. Nov. 14-17, 2013.
Sept. 2013 Old Dominion University, Master Class in Afro-Cuban Dance for Dance Majors, Dept. of Communications and Theatre Arts. September 6, 2013.
Aug. 2013 Faculty Conference on Teaching and Scholarship, presented “Embodying Difference: The Study of African-Based Sacred Dance Forms at CNU,” at Christopher Newport University, Aug. 21, 2013.
March 2013 Old Dominion University, Master Class in Haitian Dance for Dance Majors, Dept. of Communications and Theatre Arts. March 29, 2013.
March 2013 Virginia Humanities Conference The Intertwining of Nature and Culture, at CNU. Presented paper entitled, “Roots as Routes: The Sacred Tree and its Relationship to Movement and Memory at Two Rural Haitian Pilgrimages.” March 15-16, 2013.
Feb. 2013 Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA. Helped to organize Symposium on African and Caribbean Diaspora Culture and Performance, a collaboration between departments of Fine Art and Art History, English, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and Theater and Dance. Feb. 28, 2013. Presented “Danza Negra.”
Nov. 2012 Congress on Research in Dance annual conference Re-generations: Cultural Legacies in Contemporary Contexts, Albuquerque, NM. Presenting paper entitled, “Acknowledging Distance: A Choreographic Perspective Combining Contemporary U.S. and Haitian Lineages.”
June 2012 Society for Dance History Scholars annual conference Dance and the Social City, Philadelphia, PA June 14-17. Presenting paper entitled, “New York – Souvnans – Riverside: The Triangular Route of a Bicoastal Collaboration.”
Feb. 2012 Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA. Symposium in conjunction with Dr. Jody Cutler, Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History, “African Roots and Reinvention: Dance and Art in Haiti.”
Feb. 2012 Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA. Scholarship Matters Series, “Souvnans: Embodied Remembrance…A Memory Choreographed.”
March 2011 Denison University, Granville, OH. Master Class in Haitian Dance and Lecture/Symposium on Haitian Folkloric Performance.
PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
2015 Kriye Bode 10th Year Anniversary, Choreographer Peniel Guerrier, Kumble Theater, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY. Performance June 21.
2009-2015 Hungry March Band, NYC's legendary street brass marching band. Recent summer 2014 performances at MoMA and South Street Seaport, Manhattan, NY.
June 2009 Cake in My Face, Melissa Hudson Bell, choreographer. Evening-length work performed at CounterPULSE, San Francisco, CA, June 20-21.
2002-2008 Mikerline Haitian Dance Company, Mikerline Pierre, artistic director. Performed in theaters, universities, schools, festivals, parades, galas, Haitian music videos, and clubs throughout NYC, nationally, and internationally. Nine pieces in repertoire.
2006-2007 Orikí Omi Oddará, Felix “Pupy” Insua, artistic director. Afro-Cuban folkloric dance and music company based in NYC. Evening-length performances in Manhattan and the Bronx. Rumbas in East Harlem.
2005-2006 Loray Mistik, Jude “Papaloko” Thegenus, artistic director. Haitian Racine (Roots) band of musicians and dancers. Performances throughout Miami.
2003-2006 Negbhatalah Dance Company, Lionel St. Surin, artistic director. Performed in Miami as well as NYC schools.
April 2006 Tamboula (Kriye Bode), Peniel Guerrier, choreographer, Manhattan performances.
2002-2003 Julio Jean Haitian American Dance Company. Venues in Manhattan.
Spring 2002 Ayiti La. Rol’hans Innocent, artistic director. Brooklyn-based Haitian dance co. Principal soloist for evening-length Haitian Flag Day performance, Medger Evers College, Brooklyn, NY.
Spring 2001 100th Day. Pichet Klunchun, choreographer. Japan America Theater, Los Angeles, CA.
Jan. 2001 Ballet Preljocaj. Anjelin Preljocaj, artistic director. Community dancer for UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA performances.
1998-1999 Fotoba. Abdoulaye Sylla, artistic director. Guinean dance company based in Hartford, CT. Performed throughout New England at arts festivals, religious and civic celebrations, schools and theaters.