TDPS dancers perform at the Peace Ball on 1/19

Dance students from the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies performed at the Busboys and Poets Annual Peace Ball: Voices of Hope and Resistance, held at the Museum African American History and Culture on Thursday, January 19.

Dance students from the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies performed at the Busboys and Poets Annual Peace Ball: Voices of Hope and Resistance, held at the Museum African American History and Culture on Thursday, January 19. The students performed “dances of resistance,” as demonstration of how dance helps individuals and communities find empowerment, agency, and voice. According to CEO and founder Andy Shallal, the purpose of annual Peace Ball is to "celebrate the community [and also be] a place for gathering artists, activists and others who inspire to be the change."

High profile attendees of the Peace Ball include: Angela Davis, Solange, Alice Walker, Danny Glover, Van Jones, Naomi Klein, Cheryl Strayed, Melissa Harris-Perry, Donna Karan, Gina Dent, Esperanza Spalding, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), Ai-jen Poo, Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), Sonia Sanchez, Medea Benjamin (CODEPINK), Laura Flanders, Chef José Andrés, Eve Ensler, Zainab Salbi, and Sonya Renee Taylor.

TDPS performers included Sinclair Emoghene (MFA Dance ‘16) and Ling Tang (BA Dance ‘07), and current MFA Dance candidates LaTefia Bradley, Mustapha Braimah, Stacey Carlson, Christine Hands, Ama Law, Chris Law, and Shawn Stone. In addition, the Peace Ball’s production coordinator was TDPS alumna Simone Jacobson (BA Dance ‘06).

Check out Ama and Chris Law performing an excerpt of their piece on WJLA “Let’s Talk Live” (starting at 8:00): http://wjla.com/news/lets-talk/busboys-and-poets-annual-peace-ball