Taking place at Barnard College here in NYC, all the details via press release below… of course the For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf playwright, and poet will be present.
The Worlds of Ntozake Shange: A Performance and Conference February 14th and 15th, 2013
In a culture in which black women’s stories have been consistently marginalized, Ntozake Shange ’70 unflinchingly delved into experiences of “colored girls” in America, transcending genre and defying expectations with several of the most powerful and lyrical works of art in the twentieth century.
This February, the Africana Studies Program, the Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies (CCIS), and BCRW will hold a performance and a discussion followed by a one-day conference devoted to the life, works and legacy of Shange. Almost forty years after the first production of For Colored Girls Shange’s work continues to challenge and inspire. This event brings together scholars and artists from across the country who are shaping scholarly and popular conversations about African-American arts and letters as well as gender in the African Diaspora.
This conference is funded with a Virginia C. Gildersleeve grant and generous support from the Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies (CCIS), the American Studies Program, Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW), The Columbia University School of the Arts, the Barnard English Department, the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, Barnard’s Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, the Theatre Department and Women Poets at Barnard.
Performing Shange
Feb 14, 2013 | 6:00PM – Event Oval, The Diana Center
To kickoff the daylong conference, Shange joins acclaimed dance artist Dianne McIntyre in a conversation about her life, work, and legacy. Barnard students round out the evening with performances of excerpts from Shange’s work, led by music producer and Barnard Center for Research on Women Alumnae Fellow Ebonie Smith ’07.
6:00 PM – Performance by Katherine Bergstrom (BC '14), Gabrielle Davenport (BC '15), Victoria Durden (BC '15), Elena Dudum (BC '15), Sarah Esser (BC '15), and Gladyn Innocent (BC '14)
7:15 PM – Conversation with Ntozake Shange and Dianne McIntyre; moderated by Paul Scolieri, Assistant Professor of Dance
The event is free and open to the public. Venue is wheelchair accessible.
The Worlds of Shange
Feb 15, 2013 | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM – Event Oval, The Diana Center
Featured conference speakers include Jennifer DeVere Brody, Soyica Diggs Colbert, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Harryette Mullen, Mecca Sullivan and Vanessa K. Valdés.
Conference Schedule
10am
Welcome by President Debora Spar andTina Campt, Director of Africana Studies
10:15am-12:15pm
From Analphabetic to Script Obsessed
Speakers: Alexis Gumbs, Vanessa K. Valdés, Jennifer DeVere Brody, Farrah Jasmine Griffin Chair: Monica L. Miller
12:30 – 2pm: Lunch
2pm
Presentation to Ntozake Shange
2:15 – 4:30 pm:
A Poetic Possibility/a Poetic Imperative Speakers: Mecca J. Sullivan, Soyica Diggs Colbert, and Harryette Mullen
Chair: Kim F. Hall
4:30 to 6pm: Celebration/Reception
The event is free and open to the public. Venue is wheelchair accessible.
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