Fernadina Chan and Jessi Stegall are the new 2022-2023 Boston Dancemakers Residents at Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) and the Boston Dance Alliance (BDA).
Jessi Stegall and Fernadina Chan will both develop work during their year-long residencies at BCA inspired by, and in deep conversation with, other two artists who inspire each of them.
In Jessi Stegall's case the theremin virtuosa Clara Rockmore is the inspiration behind Stegall's upcoming piece "The Theremin Vignettes." Stegall notes that her own work is, "rooted deeply in odes — responding to, building, and furthering the legacy of worlds crafted by others," which in this case is the extraordinary but under-appreciated work of Rockmore. For Fernadina Chan, Michael Alfano's interactive sculpture "Cubed" is the starting point for Continuum Dance Project's new work that will develop into an exploration of race and gender from a female perspective, contrasting and harmonizing with Alfano's sculptural intention.
About Fernadina Chan and project:
Accomplished educator and choreographer Fernadina Chan is the founding artistic dean and former chair of Boston Arts Academy (BAA). Fernadina Chan founded Continuum Dance Project (CDP) — together with her collaborator and co-director Adriane Brayton — as a means to create site-specific, cross-disciplinary collaborative work that reflects the backgrounds of their collaborating artists.
In a new evening-length work CDP will explore the multi-layered connection with Michael Alfano's interactive sculpture "Cubed." Built like a jigsaw puzzle, "Cubed" consists of nine moveable pieces. Each piece is pigmented with a different skin tone, representing individual diversity within a united community. Fitted together they form a four-foot by four-foot face, depicting a male image on one side and an inverted female on the other.
This new cross-disciplinary dance will challenge audiences to consider the nuances of race and the label of gender; while empowering them to interact with, touch, and take ownership of the work. This project will feature four diverse female dancers, with family backgrounds from The Dominican Republic, Haiti, South Korea, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and United States. Along with female choreographers Adriane Brayton and Fernadina Chan, this creative team will explore race and gender from a female perspective, contrasting and harmonizing with the sculptor's intention.