Black culture takes the ice with Twin Cities skating troupe Brownbody

[Sylvia]

Minneapolis Star Tribune article by Jenna Ross: http://www.startribune.com/black-cu...in-cities-skating-troupe-brownbody/508954132/
Excerpts:

[Deneane] Richburg, 41, is turning the ice rink into a stage for moves like these, stories like hers. As artistic director of Brownbody, Richburg creates on-ice performances that combine skating, dance and theater — centering African-American history and culture in a space where, as a black kid growing up in Maplewood, she often felt out of place.
During an afternoon rehearsal last week, skaters spiraled and wove, firming up the choreography of Brownbody’s newest piece, “Tracing Sacred Steps.” The troupe will present an excerpt from the piece in free exhibitions Thursday and Saturday afternoons in conjunction with performances by the Montreal-based skating troupe Le Patin Libre, presented by Walker Art Center and Northrop.
“I’m really interested in getting beyond and outside the boundaries of traditional skating,” Richburg said, “and seeing what else the ice can offer.”

Richburg and Lela Aisha Jones, Brownbody’s artistic adviser, try to merge the skating, dance and theater worlds, seeing what happens when modern dance techniques meet ice skates. The pair met at Temple University in Philadelphia, performing each other’s choreography and producing shows for fellow black female choreographers.
“How do you take something that is earth, floor, feet-on-the-ground and bring it to the ice?” Jones said during a rehearsal at the Charles M. Schulz-Highland Arena in St. Paul. “A lot of things have to be transformed. Sometimes we decide: ‘That needs to be a glide,’ or ‘That’s just not going to work on the ice.’
“Also, what can the ice do that the earth can’t?”

Brownbody's free performances this week are at 4 pm Thursday, April 25 (Anderson Ice Arena, Breck School in Minneapolis) and at 5 pm Saturday, April 27 (Schulz-Highland Arena in St. Paul): https://brownbody.org/

Ticket info for Le Patin Libre's Vertical Influences performances on the same days & venues: https://walkerart.org/calendar/2019/le-patin-libre-vertical-influences

 

[Sylvia]

Ice Theatre debuts new piece for Black History Month [at Rockefeller Center's ice rink in February 2019]: http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2019/mar/07/ice-theatre-debuts-new-piece-black-history-month/

Among the pieces performed was the debut of “Presence,” which was skated by Theron “T.J.” James and choreographed by Deneane Richburg, a skating and dance choreographer and founder of Brownbody, a company that combines modern dance, theater, social justice practice and skating.
“This piece is about presence and the idea of what that means. What does it mean to be in a space, to self-affirm, to get externally affirmed on multiple levels—physically, emotionally and spiritually? For a lot of African-Americans, we have not had that,” said Richburg, who worked with James for about a week and a half on the program. He learned the choreography in about two days, and they spent the rest of the time focused on the intent of the piece.

Theron James also performed Richburg's piece at the Ice Theatre of New York's Spring Unplugged" show on May 2nd - clips can be watched here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxJVkRkHCcy/