Join NCCAkron this spring for our series of Dancing Conversations! These free public events locate dance among broader topics and offer an opportunity to demonstrate the aesthetic range within the dance field.

Past Dancing Conversations events have covered topics such as dance on camera (held at the Akron Public Library-Main Branch), nature as creative collaborator (held at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Conservancy), dance’s role in cultural diplomacy (held at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland), and the intersection of dance and emerging technology (held at the Akron Art Museum).

Dancing Conversations will take place on the third Thursdays of April, May, and June at 7pm Eastern. All conversations will be virtual and open to the public.

On Thursday, June 17, the artists of NCCAkron’s Dancing Lab: BLKmenMoves and Satellite Residency artist Iquail Shaheed (Philadelphia, PA) will discuss their experiences working as Black male-identified choreographers in relatively isolated creative communities. The BLKmenMoves artists — Jean Appolon​ (Boston, MA); ​Kevin Lee-Y Green​ (Wilmington, NC); ​Dominic Moore-Dunson​ (Akron, OH); ​with Charles O. Anderson (Austin, TX), as the program’s facilitator and artist mentor — have been convening virtually for the past year. Their conversation will address the plurality of Black, male identities; decolonized metrics of success; and embodied resistance to monolithic ideas of ‘Black Dance.’