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"We, the members of Arts in Color, are committed
to help students within the Department of Dance cultivate leadership skills so that students can become agents of change
for consciousness raising and social activism around
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion..."
Anita Gonzalez, Advisor and Mentor for Arts in Color
"Theatre is my cultural exchange."
Anita Gonzalez is a professor, director, and writer of theater and dance. Dramaturgy is Gonzalez's way of communicating the lives, values, struggles and cultures of marginalized members of the world. Gonzalez began her performance career as a member of Urban Bush Women, a Brooklyn-based dance company based in social activism--female artists of color sharing stories of dis-empowered diasporas through the art of movement and music.
After performing, Gonzalez proceeded to create multiple cross-cultural and historical plays and musicals, including Liverpool Trading <->New York (the story of a Black woman from the Caribbean who time travels through British pubs until she develops her individuality), Ybor City (a narrative entailing Cuban unionists, readings, rhumba, and smoke converge in 1917 Tampa, Florida) and Le Hot Blu, (a musical love story set in a 1947 Harlem Bebop club).
Gonzalez has additionally directed a number of performances, including The Living Lakes with Joel Valentin Martinez, a reading of Momentum by Cindy Sanabria for the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre (2013), Nobody by Richard Aellen for the Juneteenth Festival (2011), and two short plays for Manhattan Theatre Source’s Estrogenius Festival (2009/2010).
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Gonzalez is a strong proponent for connecting all components of performance together--theater, dance and music, and uses this interdisciplinary approach to spread unrepresented and undervalued perspectives and identities. As the chair of the Department of Dance, Gonzalez strives to bring up difficult questions, diversify the curriculum, introduce guest artists from a multitude of backgrounds, and initiate exchange programs with dance schools around the globe.
From an interview with Sophie Allen, Kristin Hanson and Kayla Fiore discussing Arts Leadership:
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"I’m trying to create a space where I can actually bring up difficult questions. And people feel attacked, and it’s hard to do...people are most comfortable with themselves and what they know. [It's about] how to get people to venture into spaces where they’re unfamiliar. And not everybody wants to do that."
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Anita Gonzalez: amanjo@umich.edu
Johanna Kepler, Founder of Arts in Color
"As a campus, we must take action...and hold our institution accountable."
Johanna Kepler, founder of Arts in Color (AIC), has made efforts outside of AIC to encourage and raise awareness for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on campus. One project in particular was the instigator for founding Arts in Color, called Through Our Eyes.
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This piece was originally performed at the 2018 Collage Concerts, a group of performances where different members of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance collaborate and develop art together. Johanna, in collaboration with an African American and Latinx cast (Kiara Williams, Kandis Terry, Sarah Morgan, Mariah Stevens, Le'elle Davis, Benjamin Marshall, and Craig White), made a piece in response to multiple racist incidents that had happened in Ann Arbor two years prior to its creation.
The performance's score was a compilation of various interviews about racism that Kepler received from around campus. Voice students Zion Jackson and Jaime Sharp recited lines from Maya Angelou's Still I Rise, which was interspersed within the interview recordings. A smaller cast later performed the work for a teach-in housed at the University of Michigan's Museum of Art.
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The piece influenced questions and debate about representation, marginalization, and racism on U-M's campus, which was Johanna's goal. Later that year, Johanna started Arts in Color to encourage dance department faculty and students to discuss racism openly. The discussions and topics Kepler was confronting and grappling with in the work helped create a space for other artists to be able to continue having these kind of conversations and inspiring others to use dance as a form of social justice and resistance.
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Johanna Kepler: kepjohan@umich.edu
Victoria Briones, Vice President of Arts in Color
Shannon Nulf, Arts in Color's Secretary of Internal Affairs
Last spring, Shannon Nulf and Victoria Briones were chosen as the 2019 student fellows of Daring Dances, a program at U-M founded by associate professor of American culture and dance Clare Croft. Together, they collaborated on a performance commenting on the how you physically manifest trauma and methods of healing through dance practice, receiving backing from the program to produce the work. They performed at "The Dancing Justice: Student Showcase" hosted at the University's Museum of Art.
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How do you think the piece raised awareness for marginalized people or cultures?
"Our work wasn't culturally specific, but I believe healing as a marginalized person is a unique experience. There's healing from personal trauma versus multi-generational trauma, and the latter is emphasized if your ancestors have been displaced (like mine). That's definitely not to say that my narrative is universal to all marginalized people- but my experience as a QPOC definitely informed the way I approached the work." (Briones)
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​"I think the piece mostly showed an abstract journey through pain, and found united strength and love, which hopefully spoke to anyone needing to see it." (Nulf)
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For more information on "The Dancing Justice: Student Showcase," visit https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-about-ann-arbor/daring-dances-project-at-university-of-michigan-incorporates-social-justice-in-ann-arbor-detroit
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Daring Dances: https://www.daringdances.org/
Shannon Nulf: nulfs@umich.edu
Victoria Briones: briones@umich.edu