“immigration stories” by Mari Meade Dance Collective/MMDC

The CUNY Dance Initiative, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, and Mari Meade Dance Collective present the World Premiere of immigration stories on Friday, September 13, 2019 at 7:30pm.

WATCH a video preview >

immigration stories, a series of dances based on true experiences about relocating to the United States, opens up the vastly different paths people take to come to this country. What began with a frustrating phone call for choreographer Mari Meade to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has evolved into a full evening of personal stories, music and dance. From a young man who was born in Germany and lived in Ghana before making his way to New York, to a Russian woman who moved to Florida as a teenager, these individual stories expand the conversation around immigration in this highly politicized time. Weaving together interviews with original compositions by Rosana Caban, Domenico Curcio, and Eran Sabo, with additional music by Chino Amobi, immigration stories combines words and movement to question assumptions around cultural identity and what being “American” might really mean.

Tickets: $20 ($15 for students/seniors)

immigration stories is choreographed by Mari Meade with costumes by Emily Petry, and performed by Allison Beler, Breanna Gribble, Misuzu Hara, Sean Hatch, Morgan Hurst, Isaac Owens, Or Reitman, and Roza Savelyeva. Apprentices are Sofia Baeta, Megumi Iwama, Sasha Rydlizky, Marina Vianello. The stories included were shared by Misuzu Hara, Isaac Owens, Or Reitman, Daniela Reitman, Roza Savelyeva, and other anonymous individuals.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Founded in 2009, Mari Meade Dance Collective/MMDC creates intricate, fully-formed worlds with epic, abstract narratives. Highly physical, quirky movement forms tight-knit communities of exaggerated characters who are bound to complex narrative arcs. The company is driven by Mari Meade’s choreographic inspiration but is shaped by interactions with and contributions from other visual art forms. MMDC has shown work nationally and internationally. Highlights include: the Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center; Dance: Access at Danspace/St. Mark’s Church (NYC); STUFFED at Judson Memorial Church (NYC); Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn); FLICfest (Brooklyn); Battery Dance Festival (NYC); New Orleans Fringe Festival (LA); Asheville Fringe Festival (NC); Baltimore Dance Invitational (MD); Katlehong Arts Center (South Africa); and Lake Studios Berlin (Germany).

Mari Meade is an educator, choreographer, and the artistic director of Mari Meade Dance Collective / MMDC. Meade has received the New York Choreographic Institute (an affiliate of New York City Ballet), UNCSA Development Residency, the Kenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center Education and was an Artist in Residence at Chez Bushwick, Triskelion Arts, CUNY Dance Initiative, and Lake Studios Berlin. She has shown work at Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center; Danspace; Judson Memorial Church; Joe’s Pub; Battery Dance Festival; Triskelion Arts; ChopShop: Bodies of Work (WA); New Orleans Fringe Festival; Asheville Fringe Festival; Baltimore Dance Invitational; Lake Studios Berlin; Katlehong Arts Center (South Africa). She was awarded a Brooklyn Arts Council regrant in 2010, and a “New Work” and Su Casa grant from Queens Arts Council in 2019. Mari Meade is also a board member of the Kenan Institute for the Arts and the associate director of the UNCSA’s Choreographic Institute. She was recently commissioned by Amalgamate Dance Company, One Day Dance, and CounterPointe. She is a teaching artist for New York City Ballet and Dancing Classrooms. She is a graduate of UNC School of the Arts.

Associate Artistic Director: Breanna Gribble

Rehearsal Director: Allison Beler

Social Media Director: Sean Hatch

Administrative Assistant: Liza Marie Levy

This project is made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

MMDC’s residency and performance at John Jay College is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), a program that opens the doors of CUNY campuses to professional choreographers and dance companies. CDI receives major support from the Howard Gilman Foundation and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the SHS Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, and Dance NYC’s New York City Dance Space Subsidy Program, made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. CDI is spearheaded and administered by the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative

Cultural, informational and visual arts presentations at John Jay College are made possible in part with funds allocated by Council Member Helen Rosenthal and the New York City Council.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, an international leader in educating for justice, offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. www.jjay.cuny.edu.

MMDC is grateful for the continued support of our Gold Level Donors: Chelsea Gribble, Lauren Gorstyn, Joe Horne, and Daniel Yoerges.