ONLINE: The Harvest

×

Expand

Loreto "Still 1" Jamling

Ladies of Hip-Hop founder Michele Byrd McPhee is the fall 2020 interdisciplinary artist at UW-Madison.

press release: Assistant professor Duane Lee Holland Jr will bring the Ladies of Hip-Hop Executive Director Michele Byrd-McPhee and senior VP of the legendary Rock Steady Crew Anthony Denaro (aka YNOT) together for THE HARVEST, an evening of hip-hop theater and concert dance Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. via Zoom and Facebook Live.

THE HARVEST centers on the legacy of Black American dance, music, theater, and film as the key to freedom, justice, and survival and features artists who create work through the fundamentals and lens of Hip-Hop culture.

Each of these artists will present original works and work in progress and engage participants in an active discussion. Holland will present "Saved, By Becoming A Slave To The Rhythm" and rehearsal footage of "A Rose Out Of Concrete." Work from Byrd-McPhee will feature "Genertification of my Beat" and "Matterings," a work in progress.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to participate via Zoom. Anyone can access the event via Facebook Live.

ABOUT DUANE LEE HOLLAND JR

Duane Lee Holland is an assistant professor of dance at UW-Madison, the first Hip-Hop scholar on the UW-Madison dance faculty. He previously served as an associate professor of dance and Hip-Hop instructor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee in Boston, MA. His professional background includes work as a performer with some of the top Hip-Hop and modern dance choreographers in the world, including Ronald K. Brown, Garth Fagan, Bill T. Jones, Rennie Harris, Maurice Hines, and Makeda Thomas. He has also served as the assistant artistic director of Rennie Harris Puremovement, the first theatrical Hip-Hop dance company in the U.S. and has performed in the original cast of "The Lion King" on Broadway. 

ABOUT MICHELE BYRD-MCPHEE

Michele Byrd-McPhee is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer, curator, and director. Byrd-McPhee re-contextualizes spaces and conversations of Hip-Hop culture along gender, sex, cultural and socio-historical and racial lines. She situates the arts and dance techniques in spaces that honor and acknowledge their roots and the many creative pioneers who have shaped them. Over the last 10 years, Byrd-McPhee has worked in various production roles including production coordinator at Brooklyn Academy of Music and Senior Music Coordinator at Late Night with Seth Meyers. She currently serves as the Chief Strategic & Artistic Advisor Showtime NYC along with her ongoing commitment as Executive Director of Ladies of Hip-Hop. Byrd McPhee earned a BS from Temple University & an MS in Nonprofit Arts Management from Drexel University. She is currently in residence at UW-Madison through its Integrated Arts Residency Fellowship via the UW Division of the Arts.

ABOUT ANTHONY DENARO (AKA YNOT)

Anthony Denaro (aka YNOT) teaches Breaking Technique and Stylized Lettering for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Arizona State University. Through a futurist lens, YNOT explores the design, sustainability, history, and community of Hip-Hop, which manifests in dance, typography, music, and architecture. YNOT is the senior vice president of the legendary Rock Steady Crew and has traveled the world extensively as a B-boy, judging battles, teaching workshops, and building cultural awareness. In YNOT’s vision of the sustainability of Hip-Hop, teaching and mentorship are paramount. In addition to his classes at UW-Milwaukee and ASU, he can be found on a workshop basis internationally, online.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This event is produced and supported by the UW-Madison Dance Department and is also made possible through the UW Division of the Arts Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program.