C O N V E N I N G
SPELMAN DANCE TROUPE
In conjunction with the exhibition Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness at the Colby Museum, the Lunder Institute for American Art hosted dance students Kaela Lawrence, Brittany Mathis, Aquilah Ohemeng, Veronica Ramsey, Kaylah Smith, Summer Kai Thomas, and Thulani Vereen from Spelman College at Colby College for a week in April 2019. The students were accompanied by Spelman dance faculty Kathleen Wessel and Makeba Dixon-Hill, curator of education at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.
During their visit, the Spelman College dancers engaged with students in “Critical Race Feminisms and Tap Dance,” a course by Sonja Thomas, Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. They were also put into conversation with arts consultant Ella Baff, former Andrew W. Mellon Foundation program officer and long-time director of renowned dance center Jacob’s Pillow. This program aimed to consider dance and performance as ways of engaging with history, self-expression, and identity. It culminated in a public performance choreographed by the Spelman College dance students.
Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness is organized by Autograph, London, and curated by Renée Mussai. Prior to its presentation at the Colby Museum, the exhibition appeared at the Spelman College Museum of Art in Atlanta.
