CHOREOGRAPHIC CENTER INITIATIVE 2.0
Choreographic Center Initiative Producing Program (CCI 2.0) is a pilot program designed to cultivate the next generation of women+ of color producers. We offer collaborative learning experiences, hands-on opportunities, mentorship, and a bi-weekly stipend; while at the same time continuing to support women+ of color movement makers who have participated in the CCI in the past.
CCI 2.0 PRODUCING FELLOWS
Audrey Elaine Hailes is a dance-theatre artist based up and down the Eastern Seaboard. She currently works with Maria Bauman as associate artistic director of MBDance,
Pia Monique Murray is a choreographer, performer, teacher, arts administrator, stage, tour/company manager, rehearsal assistant and creative producer.
Stephanie Rolland is a Lilly Award-winning creative producer, curator, and arts administrator. Her work is fueled by connection, experimentation, and laughter.
Cheri received her M.F.A. in Choreography and Performance from Florida State University, and a B.A. in Dance Studies with a K-12 Dance Teaching Licensure from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
CCI 2.0 Producing Mentors
Lisa Byrd
Independent Producing Director
Lisa Byrd’s interest lies in exploring the intersection of the arts, civic engagement, community activism and cultural preservation. Lisa has a 30+ year career in the arts with roles ranging from audio engineering and production management to providing organizational leadership as production director for dance companies and executive leadership for community based arts organizations.
Sandy Garcia
Director of Booking, Pentacle
Sandy Garcia became Director of Booking at Pentacle in 2016, after almost two decades of experience working with major U.S. presenting organizations, artist management companies and internationally renowned artists in dance, theater, visual performance art and music.
Laura Greer
Senior Producer, Apollo Theater
Laura Greer joined the world-famous Apollo Theater in 2005 after over twenty years of working in the performing arts. She is dedicated to presenting and commissioning artists of African descent and introducing new voices and talents to the attention of diverse audiences.
Linda Walton
Independent Arts Administrator
Ms. Walton has over 35 years of experience as an arts administrator, supporting the professional, creative, and organizational development of artist and arts organizations locally, nationally, and internationally through performance, visual, humanities, and education programs.
CCI Alum Supported artists/Projects
Click HERE to view the full list of Choreographic Center Initiative Fellows.
Maria Bauman
It Feels Like This
“I am a multi-disciplinary artist and community organizer from Jacksonville, FL. My choreography for MBDance is based on physical and emotional power, desire for equity, and fascination with intimacy.”
Kesha McKey
Raw Fruit
Kesha McKey is an African American female performing artist, choreographer and educator born and raised in New Orleans. After graduating from NOCCA she received her BS in Biology pre-med from Xavier University of LA and an MFA in Dance Performance from UW-Milwaukee.
Marguerite Hemmings
To make ready again: for anyone in need of reparations
Marguerite Angelica Monique Hemmings is a Jamaican born, Jersey-raised, NYC-made performance artist/educator currently based in Philadelphia, USA.
Mame Diarra Speis
Haint Blu
Mame Diarra Speis, is a mother and movement improviser intrigued with play, risk, rigor, and experimentation. She is currently a performer and the Co-Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women.
Chanon Judson
Haint Blu
Chanon Judson’s been growing with the acclaimed Urban Bush Women since 2001, as performer and now Co-Artistic Director. She’s a director’s fellow with New Perspective Theatre Women’s Work Lab, Chicago Director’s Lab, and APAP's Leadership Fellowship Program.
nia love
project-g1(host)lostatsea/UNDERcurrents
Presently, love lives on unseated Lenape Nation land known as New York. A native Californian with recently discovered deeply embedded roots in Louisiana with the Ouachita/Washitaw Nation from her Matrilineal side.
CCI 2.0 Advisory Committee
Linda Brumbach
Founder, Pomegranate Arts
Linda Brumbach founded Pomegranate Arts in 1998 dedicated to the development of international performing arts projects working closely with artists to bring bold and ambitious artistic ideas to fruition.
Stephanie Hughley
Independent Performing Arts Consultant
Stephanie S. Hughley is currently a Performing Arts Consultant specializing in relationship building and developing unique collaborative partnerships with public and private, for profit and non-profit individuals and organizations.
Mikki Shepard
Independent Producer, Presenter, & Arts Consultant
Mikki Shepard is a producer, presenter, funder and arts consultant. She produced the first multidisciplinary festival NYC FREE to inaugurate Little Island, a new public park in New York City.
Hanako Yamaguchi
Independent Arts Consultant
Hanako Yamaguchi is an independent arts consultant who believes in the transformative power of the arts. Her current and recent projects include advising the Celebrity Series of Boston, Little Island, a public park in the Hudson River, and a project with Alisa Weilerstein, in addition to managing the WQXR Artist Propulsion Lab initiative.
CCI 2.0 PROJECT PRODUCER
Lai-Lin is a Creative Producer, Performance Artist, and Arts Advocate from Washington, DC now living in New York City. She is committed to cultivating and nurturing a deeper and more natural relationship of trust, communication, and creativity between Artists and Producers. Lai-Lin works in collaboration with Artists by transforming their artistic visions into reality and through as many evolutionary life cycles it takes. Her work and experience as a Performance Artist fully support and inform her work as a Producer. She understands the artistic needs of an Artist on both a personal and professional level and utilizes her skill sets to support and protect those needs.
Urban Bush Women would like to extend our thanks to our creative partners:
The Apollo Theater
CIPA (Creative Independent Producer's Alliance)
HowlRound Theatre Commons
Junebug Productions
Producer's Hub
The Theater Leadership Project
TPOC (Theater Producers of Color)
WOCA (Women of Color in the Arts)
Urban Bush Women’s Choreographic Center Initiative 2.0 pilot program is generously supported by Mellon Foundation.
The 22-23 application process for CCI 2.0 is closed. Stay tuned for more opportunities.
For more information about this pilot program contact CCI 2.0 Project Producer, Lai-Lin Robinson at cci@urbanbushwomen.org