BLACK COFFEE + RAW SUGAR
Black Coffee + Raw Sugar is an evening of dance shorts from Black + Brown Chicago movement artists and dancemakers. Each artist will present excerpts, works-in-progress, or improvisations. Audiences and artists join together in an intimate exchange with one of Chicago’s favorite DJs and some beloved Black + Brown vendors.
FEATURED ARTISTS
From left to right: Dedrick “D. Banks” Gray, Harlem Nyte, Darling “Shear” Squire, Tuli Bera, Gold Grrl, and Mekeba Malik
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Dedrick “D. Banks” Gray is a Chicago native Artistprenuer who orchestrates in many artistic mediums as a Multidisciplinary Artist, Choreographer, Performer, Educator, Producer, and Teaching Artist. He recently received his MFA in Choreography and Performance, where he has developed his research on Black Linguistics and produced an embodied structured mixtape performance titled R3Mx.D.Banks recently partnered with Gibney dance as a Visiting Teaching Artist for Bard College. He’s working with Camille A. Brown Dance as an apprentice and production assistant under Jawole Zollar for her directorial debut at the Houston Grand Opera.
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Harlem Nyte (CeeJaye Iman) is a Chicago-based dancer, choreographer and sensual movement coach. She’s been actively performing in Chicago with the burlesque ensemble Body Confidence for Queens since 2022 & When off stage, she’s a choreographer at Northwestern U. Later in the year, Harlem will be making her festival debut in Ohio, alongside some of the current powerhouse performers & legends.
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Darling Shear: Kinetic Linguist, Guerrilla Anthropologist
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Tuli Bera is a Bengali-American movement artist who draws from various styles of movement: Indian folk and classical forms, classical and contemporary ballet, modern, aerial dance and improvisation. Tuli has worked with various Chicago artists, collectives and organizations: Ishti Collective, Aerial Dance Chicago, Ayako Kato, Ashwaty Chennat, Chris Knowlton and more. Tuli recently premiered a 3rd iteration of their own work, Bangali Meye at Steppewolf's 1700 theater in February 2023. Beyond performance, Tuli has supported independent artists as a producer and curator for dance and teaches ballet and aerial dance for all ages.
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Dubbed the "fierceness of femininity" by AfroPunk, GoldGrrl is a Panamanian culture bearer, dancer, singer-songwriter and filmmaker. Her artistic practice addresses issues of self-identity, women empowerment, afro-futurism and immigration. She fronted Chicago jazz metal band Erzulie and has been a member of the underground street dance community for 15+ years. Attend GoldGrrl's artist release party this June 17 at Elastic Arts.
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Mekeba Malik is from Chicago IL. He began his dance training at the age of 12. He has been trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, African, and Flamenco. Mekeba has been under the tutelage of Kayla Harley, Dereque Whiturs, Debbie Allen, Virginia Johnson, Robert Garland, Gary Abbott, Kevin Iega Jeff, Nicole Clarke-Springer, Ted Seymour, Thomas Talawa Prestø and Alonzo King, just to name a few. He has trained at Kiara Dance Arts Studio, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, The Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, Chicago MultiCultural Dance Center, and The Chicago High School for the Arts. At age 17, Mekeba was the youngest to be accepted to Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet Training Program on a full ride scholarship. Unfortunately he had to leave both the program and dance due to the passing of his grandmother. This took a toll on his mother’s mental health, leading Mekeba to step up to be her support and healthcare assistant until the end of her life. After taking time to feel his transition and adjust to his new life, Mekeba has decided to be obedient to his spirit, and share his love of dance with us. During his time away from dance, Mekeba became a certified yoga instructor and a certified personal trainer. He is currently a company member with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and joins us on behalf of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
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Professor-Wrecks (She/they) is a self-taught new media artist from Chicago. Their focus is in making electronic music and text-based compositions. Since their introduction into music production in 2017, Wrecks has worked to create music and DIY visuals focused in the Black Femme electronica aesthetic.
Curated by Aaliyah Christina
Tickets: $15 - $40