The University of Wisconsin Dance Department performed “Moonshine,” a multimedia celebration of Black History Month featuring hip-hop, tap, jazz and spoken-word poetry as a love letter to black culture and the arts, on Feb. 27.
Professor Chris Walker set the tone for the program to come as the audience settled into their seats. He explained the idea of “Moonshine” and its origins while leading the audience in a traditional African call-and-response song, one of many instances of audience participation throughout the production.
“Romeo & Julia,” the opening number choreographed by Nicole Nelson, Max Saron and AJ Juarez, was a hip-hop retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” set to a medley of different Queen songs. The flashy costumes, paired with each dancer's impressive precision, made for a strong start to a strong production.
Up next was a showing of faculty member Omair “Motion” Carter’s short film “Don’t Play with L(Kn)ives.” Set in the U.K., this film depicted true stories of knife crime with dance as the medium. Through images of dance-fighting set to both powerful poetry and violin music, the film emphasizes how you must “write your own story” to end a cycle.
Before the second act, Walker once again took the stage to lead the audience through some simple clapping rhythms in preparation for the following half of the show.
The remainder of the production was a mixture of different solo and small group performances. One such performance was “For: Sojourner,” a beautiful tap solo performed by Sojourner Croom.
“This piece is a gift to its creator,” Croom said in the program description. “There are times when I get too caught up in everything I’m not. Not enough for who I am, and not enough for who I want to be. This piece takes a step back to remind me that who I am is okay; there is no reason to change because I am who I am meant to be.”
Jordan Waters and Octavia Ikard displayed a powerful performance of excerpts from their poetry work “everything still.” A poem that “explores themes of lineage, presence and history’s role in Black Diasporic storytelling.”
Rounding out the showcase was “Hitterz Moonshine EXP,” another small group hip-hop performance, and “Two Bros and Unc,” an interpretative dance performed by Walker and Guy Thorne with live music by Hanah Jon Taylor, an internationally known flutist and jazz saxophone player.
One standout moment was “Reverance: A Return to Self,” performed by Stacy Letrice, the department's dancer in residence this semester. With over 20 years of experience in African and Caribbean dance, Letrice brought her expertise to the classroom this semester, with her “Moonshine” performance serving as the culmination of her residency.
“This movement prayer moves through Soca, West African dance, Afrobeats, Dancehall and heels, to access joy, ancestry, praise, sensuality and self-love,” Letrice said in the program description. “Rooted in Caribbean and African diasporic forms and informed by dance/movement therapy, the body becomes the altar, returning home through worship to reclaim what belongs.”
Following the final number, Walker invited the audience on stage for a dance party. In the end, the performance ended the way that it started, with a rich sense of community and culture.
