At the close of October, our first piece as an embedded writer for Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s Production Residency appeared in the Performance Response Journal. Our response to Ivelisse Díaz’s in-progress performance Contra la Corriente took the form of an abstract poem, mirroring the structure of the work as it currently stands, and can be read here. We also joined youth organizer Destiny Harris in a discussion for a summit on defunding police—hosted by Andrea Ritchie—reflecting on our experiences with #NoCopAcademy, and underlining the important contributions which campaigns that fail to hit their targets can still make to seismic political shifts.

We’re thrilled to share that this month we’ve been invited by curator Cédric Fauq to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark! We’ll be a featured performer for the fourth installment of Close Encounters, an experimental dance program whose 2021 theme is Attitudes of the Unruly. We’ll perform our piece Dancer As Insurgent and lead a movement workshop at Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, joining 16 other artists in honoring the legacy of Douglas Crutchfield, a Black, queer, U.S.-born dancer who lived and taught in Denmark, centering elders and people with disabilities in his teaching practice. We are beyond excited!

When we get back from Denmark we’ll lead an Intro to Prison Abolition workshop for students at Sullivan High School on the North Side in Chicago. As an acting member of Dissenters’ safety team, we’ll also co-facilitate a session on community-led safety responses and transformative justice for adult mentors with the anti-war org.

Thank you for moving with us through a jam-packed fall. We’ll see you at the close of the year!

BH