Dawtas | Mirror, Mirror | Hyde Park Art Center 2021
Dawtas | Mirror, Mirror, was performed at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago in the fall of 2021. A collaborative project, it brought together dancers, and a sound artist, performing with and within Dawtas—an ongoing sculpture series I began in 2004.
This program featured the talented Jamila Raegan, Anthony Lovejoy, Darling Squire, and sound artist, musician, and DJ, Major Taylor (Ralph Darden). Neila Ebanks consulted on the project—a dance educator and performer based in Kingston Jamaica.
The project, influenced by the work of Jamaican dancer and cultural historian Rex Nettleford, is tied to notions of identity in Jamaica and the Caribbean—considering ritual in dance, bodies in relation to history and land, race, gender, spiritualism, and mysticism. Nettleford founded the National Dance Theater of Jamaica in 1962 on the eve of the country’s independence, along with other Jamaican dancers, musicians, and artists.
Thank you to the amazing folks at The Hyde Park Art Center and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) for their support of this program through an Individual Artists Program grant.
Neila Ebanks | Dance Educator | Collaborator
Based in Kingston, Jamaica, dancer, choreographer, educator, and academic, Ebanks is considered one of the Caribbean’s most innovative performing artists by her peers. She has performed with Jamaica’s top companies, including the National Dance Theatre Company and L’Acadco, and in Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, and the United Kingdom as well. Her inventiveness — which includes a penchant for improvisation, and a willingness to dance beyond the stage — has won her a reputation for boldness.
Ralph Darden/DJ Major Taylor | Musician/DJ | Collaborator
DJ, musician & producer. Ralph Darden, aka DJ Major Taylor, has toured the world both as a DJ and as the lead guitarist and singer for his dub infused post-punk band The Jai Alai Savant. Currently residing in Chicago, Major Taylor composes music for independent films & DJ’s weekly party’s. Referred to as “ The DJ for folks that love to dance but don’t like nightclubs” by the Chicago Tribune, his eclectic style, gregarious nature, extensive music knowledge,& fierce technical acumen make him a musical one-man army.
Anthony Lovejoy | Performer | Collaborator
Anthony Williams, a Chicago native, is an arts administrator, producer, and dance teacher. He is a graduate of Millikin University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. While the majority of his career has been in facilitating performance art, Anthony is passionate about sharing artistic practice with underprivileged bipoc communities. Anthony has experience in various degrees of administrative roles with Congo Square Theater Company (Chicago), Staycee Pearl dance project (Pgh), Texture Contemporary Ballet (Pgh) August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (Pgh), and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (Chicago). As an educator, he has worked with Attack Theater(Pgh). He is excited to be apart of the Chicago Artist Coalition’s network and is looking for toward the work CAC will be presenting this season.
Jamila Raegan | Performer | Collaborator
Jamila’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, presented most often as visual and performative markers of personal and cultural experiences. Her practice is material-centered, which includes: familial relationships, ancestors, hybrid belief systems, plant cultivation, and preservation through sculpture, installation, performance, and film.
Darling Squire | Performer | Collaborator
Kinetic Linguist, Anthropologist, Teacher, Healer