Southern Futures: The Commons Festival x Carolina Performing Arts

The Commons: Southern Futures invited participants to step into and move within currents of grief, joy, and memory through a procession of performances, creative and skills-based workshops, and celebrations occurring across sites of historical and cultural relevance throughout the town of Chapel Hill.

The Commons: Southern Futures is the third Commons to be presented by Carolina Performing Arts. It thus exists upon a continuum of Commons, building upon what has come before. This year's Commons also takes departures from past Commons curatorially and programmatically.

MARCH 3-5TH, 2024

CAROLINA PERFORMING ARTS X UNC CHAPEL HILL

Crisis Materials x Vital Health NC

VITAL Health is a multi-year initiative featuring a movement and spoken word film and flower-making workshops centered around unpacking COVID-19, social unrest in our nation, and its acute impact on our mental stability and well-being. This ongoing work also works to bring visibility around the history of the land around Raleigh, NC – with a particular focus on uncovering the story of the Dorthea Dix Park Cemetery.

CRISIS MATERIALS LIVE

MAY 21, 2022 AT 4PM

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

dIX PARK CEMETARY, RALEIGH, NC

MENTAL HEALTH FLOWER-MAKING WORKSHOPS:

Join us during Mental Health Awareness Month as we unpack and discuss how our collective mental health continues to be impacted by the ongoing pandemic and social unrest, while examining how we can mutually combat these challenges with various wellness “tools” and support systems.

Thursday, April 28, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 5, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Crisis Materials features dance and choreography from Anthony Otto Nelson Jr, and an original poem from Johnny Lee Chapman, III, with flowers made by community members from across the state of North Carolina, made during 25 virtual and in-person workshops held throughout 2021. These workshops featured facilitated flower-making and curated discussions around how the ever-shifting sands of the ongoing pandemic and the uproar of social injustices continues to impact our nation. Primarily done during Mental Health Awareness Month, these workshops worked to provide resources for mental health “toolbox” skills in order cope with these stressors and more.

Crisis Materials was originally filmed and edited by Julia Wall, Executively Produced by Stacy L. Kirby and Michael S. Williams, and production by Proxemic Media. Crisis Materials Live premiered at the Dorthea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC on May 22, 2021, with live filming and photography by Caroline Cockrell.

 Eclipse x Culture Mill

APRIL 9TH AND 10TH, 2022 AT 7:30PM

THE CURRENT ARTSPACE & STUDIO, CHAPEL HILL, NC

IN ECLIPSE, CULTURE MILL BRINGS TOGETHER AUDIENCES AND PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS TO BUILD AN IMAGINARY MONUMENT FOR A (IM)POSSIBLE “WE.” JUST BEFORE SUNDOWN, YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN A CHOREOGRAPHIC PRACTICE OUTSIDE CURRENT ARTSPACE + STUDIO, WHICH USES RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PRACTICES AND EMBODIMENT TOOLS TO INVESTIGATE HOW OUR ASSEMBLED BODIES AND STORIES MIGHT FORM THE ARCHITECTURE FOR A TOGETHERNESS WE DON’T YET KNOW.

“Culture mill strives to foster a creative ecosystem based in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, through the cross-pollination of artist residencies, educational outreach and groundbreaking immersive artworks from local, national and international artists.” — cULTURE MILL

Silence x Tony Johnson

Silence, is a contemporary dance work by choreographer Tony Johnson, performed by Anthony Otto Nelson Jr., Jessica Ayala and Kate Gupton, featured at American Dance Festival’s Samuel H. Scripps Studios.

This piece brings visibility to the ongoing gun violence this country has faced, the recent riots due to the social and political climate, as well as honors those who were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tony created this work to also create awareness around the silence that has fallen upon America admits such gun violence, racial inequalities, and social unrest.

The Front Lines x The Black on Black Project

The Front Lines is a short film featuring dance and choreography by Anthony Otto Nelson Jr., and an original poem, written and performed by Johnny Lee Chapman, III. This work is centered around telling the story of the 1865 Battle of Forks Road, the 1898 Massacre, and the Wilmington Ten case in 1971. This important work was developed to hold space for those lost, tell their stories, and to shine light on how such a dark history, that continues to impact all of us today.

This short film was filmed at The Cameron Art Museum, the 1898 Memorial Park in Wilmington, and Wrightsville Beach in NC. Filmed and edited by Rebecca Ward, Executively Produced by Michael S. Williams for The Black on Black Project, with Production managing by Myra Weise (Proxemic Media).