Staff

Saturday, April 12 | 7 p.m.
Warch Esch Hurvis Studio

bkSOUL
dance • poetry • music

grace shinhae jun, choreographer/dancer
Jesse Mills & Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, music
Anthony Blacksher (aka Ant Black), spoken word poetry
Keomi Tarver, dancer

and Lawrence University dancers
Aimsley Shearer, Atlas Wagner, Billy Greene, Ella Fajardo-Wilde, Jasmine Germany, Madison Tracy, Martin Tran, MeiSi Chang

This event is free and open to the public!

ABOUT THE DANCE SERIES ARTIST

bkSOUL was founded in 2001 by Dr. grace shinhae jun as a space to explore the relationship between Hip Hop culture and modern dance, debuting with the evening-length work “Women Warriors in Love & Hip Hop.” The company began as a bi-coastal company (San Diego – Brooklyn), teaching and performing at various venues in Southern California, Brooklyn, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, Indiana, San Francisco, and Mexico. In 2006, bkSOUL deepened its roots in San Diego and began collaborating with Collective Purpose (Ant Black, Kendrick Dial, and Rudy Francisco), blending together movement, poetry, and live music to center on issues of social justice and communities of color through a Hip Hop framework. This award-winning performance company has created seven evening-length works: “The Movement” (2007), “Hip Hop Saved My Life” (2009), “Love H.E.R.” (2013), “Illegible” (2015), “Still Moving” (2016), “The Lioness” (2017), and “Get Free” (2019) and received “Best Musical Performance” (2016), “Outstanding Performance” (2017), and “Outstanding Multidisciplinary Production” (2019) for their work at the San Diego International Fringe Festival. bkSOUL was in residence at Lawrence University and performed their critically-acclaimed work “Illegible”. In 2016, celebrating 10 years of working together, the dancers, the poets, and the musicians fully merged to perform solely as the conscious performance group bkSOUL. As educators, mothers, fathers, activists, and artists, bkSOUL is committed to education through the arts, to courageous insight and truth, and to helping strengthen our justice movement today.

Wednesday, April 9 | 8-9 p.m.
Harper Hall

~Nois is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet dedicated to connecting with diverse audiences through the creation of new work. Since its founding in 2016, “~Nois continues to legitimize the saxophone quartet as a premiere ensemble formation for classical music” (thank you, Brutal New Music) through commissioning repertoire that is thought-provoking, engaging, and honestly just really good by some of today’s most inspiring compositional voices.

Julian Velasco, soprano saxophone
Joe Connor, alto saxophone
Jordan Lulloff, tenor saxophone
János Csontos, baritone saxophone

~Nois will perform works by Augusta Read Thomas, Caroline Shaw, Viet Cuong, Elijah Daniel Smith, and Travis Laplante.

Free and open to the public! 

Sign up for the National Association for Music Education’s 8th annual symposium!

Inclusive Music Pedagogy, Inclusive Dance, and the Neurodiversity Paradigm in the Music Classroom

Saturday, April 19 | 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Lawrence University Conservatory, Room 163

Featuring Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Corrine Galligan, PhD University of Michigan
• Tiffany Bunstein, Program Coordinator for United Sound

Also featuring LU Professors:

• Leila Pertl
• Julie McQuinn
• Kathy Privatt
• Bob Williams

NAfME’s symposiums are a way for Lawrence students of any degree background to expand their knowledge of education on a specialized topic. In the past we have specialized in queer theory, composition, hip hop, and more! Join us for a day of workshops, conversations, and more.

We have amazing guest speakers and beloved LU professors ready to fill your brain and heart with new tools and ideas. No matter where you are in your journey as a musician/educator, you will walk away with something new.

Breakfast and lunch will be catered; enjoy coffee from Seth’s and donuts from Happy Bellies in the morning and food from Mai’s Deli in the afternoon.