waheedworks: Bodies as Site of Faith and Protest 
A Visions and Voices Signature Event 

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free. Reservations required. 

RSVP

DESCRIPTION: 
“A gift of hopefulness and a reminder of the power achievable through unification.”—The Dance Enthusiast 

Visions and Voices is thrilled to present the West Coast premiere of Bodies as Site of Faith and Protest. Partially set to speeches from the Civil Rights Movement including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “We Shall Overcome,” the newest work by waheedworks beautifully and powerfully explores the idea of bodies uniting in protest, carrying on the Philadephia-based company’s mission of creating a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to human life. 

Established in 2006 by artistic director and choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans, grounded in Evans’s upbringing in the church, and intertwining urban street style and contemporary dance with an emphasis on gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds, waheedworks offers a path to liberation through the bold and raw movement of its unapologetically diverse dancers.  

This special performance will be accompanied by a conversation with the artists, including Evans, moderated by USC Kaufman professor Thomas Ford.

Bios: 

Born in Los Angeles and based in Philadelphia, 2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker whose work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness, and liberation. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and PHILADANCO! Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dances. Accolades and honors include Resident Fellow at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University, Princess Grace Honoraria Award in Choreography, New Music Project Grant, Howard Gilman Foundation Fellowship, Joffrey Ballet Winning Works, and Dance Research Fellowship at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.  

Thomas Ford is an interdisciplinary contemporary dance artist and assistant professor of practice at USC Kaufman. His research examines the mechanisms of identity and culture through an exploration of embodiment, choreography, and Black, queer, critical, and performance studies. Since 2016, he has collaborated with artistic partner—and husband—Steven Atwater. Using original sound scores, technology spanning mediated forms, and emergent movement vocabularies inspired by historically ostracized bodies and sci-fi folklore, they build worlds, where the social, political, and cultural entangle with the aesthetics of their collective histories.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Co-sponsored by the USC Kaufman School of Dance and the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs.