America, in many ways, has always been an idea. The white colonizers who enshrined their theory into a Constitution marketed their creation as a land of opportunity and new beginnings. For centuries, people from around the world have felt the pull to become part of that fantasy, and immigration was an integral part of the foundation and success of the American experiment. But from the beginning, America was not intended to be inclusive. America was built on racial hierarchy and that inheritance continues to haunt and terrorize us today.
In this January/February edition of Justice+Art, we present migrant stories of those striving to leave the homes they’ve known and begin anew–believing in the American dream.
Ballet Hispánico
Ballet Hispánico is New York’s leading Latino dance company and the largest cultural institution of its kind in the United States. Founded by Tina Ramirez in the wake of the civil rights movement and now led by Artistic Director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro, the company fights systemic stereotyping by masterfully fusing classical ballet, contemporary innovation, and traditional Latin dance styles like flamenco, mambo, and salsa. Their powerful, culturally authentic choreography recently earned them the prestigious Immigration Impact Award for using art to uplift the immigrant experience and bring communities together. This summer, they are bringing their celebrated athletic repertoire to major stages, including the BAAND Together Dance Festival at Lincoln Center and a featured run at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. More
Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet
Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet (JGCO) is a Brooklyn-based dance theater company that merges contemporary, classical, and traditional African techniques to highlight social justice and the Black cultural experience. The nonprofit utilizes highly kinetic choreography and multimedia storytelling to confront historical and modern human rights disparities, most recently demonstrated in their 30th-anniversary performances of Remembering at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. JGCO maintains a deep commitment to community activism by providing educational programming, scholarships, and performances designed to empower the next generation of young dancers. More
Lenora Lee Dance
Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) is a San Francisco-based multimedia company that has spent nearly two decades telling stories about human rights, Asian culture, and the global Asian diaspora.Led by Artistic Director Lenora Lee, the group creates beautifully layered, immersive dance performances of living history that focus on real-world struggles, such as Within These Walls, which tracks the detention of Chinese immigrants at Angel Island, and A Bridge to Now, which revealed the horrific treatment of Chinese enslaved workers in Peru. They perform and share these powerful projects at major venues and community arts spaces across the country, such as San Francisco’s Dance Mission Theater. More
Step Afrika!
“Amend acknowledges, early and often, that rights granted on paper don’t always translate to immediate change on the ground, especially when state or local officials assert their own interpretation of the law.”
Step Afrika! is a Washington, D.C.-based professional dance company that ranks among the top ten African American dance companies in the United States. Founded in 1994 as a cross-cultural collaboration with the Soweto Dance Theatre of South Africa, the group blends traditional African American stepping with the South African gumboot dance to create high-energy, educational productions. This year, the company is celebrating a massive milestone season highlighted by a critically acclaimed summer run of The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence at New York City’s Joyce Theater, an appearance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Musical Bodies exhibition, and their annual Summer Steps youth education program hosted at D.C.’s Arena Stage. More
Step Afrika!
“I wanted to make a film about migrant deaths. I wanted their stories to be the primary narrative. I did not want Americans to be seen as heroes. However, how can you do this, given that the dead don’t talk?”
Step Afrika! is a Washington, D.C.-based professional dance company that ranks among the top ten African American dance companies in the United States. Founded in 1994 as a cross-cultural collaboration with the Soweto Dance Theatre of South Africa, the group blends traditional African American stepping with the South African gumboot dance to create high-energy, educational productions. This year, the company is celebrating a massive milestone season highlighted by a critically acclaimed summer run of The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence at New York City’s Joyce Theater, an appearance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Musical Bodies exhibition, and their annual Summer Steps youth education program hosted at D.C.’s Arena Stage. More
