A NOTE FROM J’SUN:

I have been thinking about this piece since 2018. “Black Fugitivity” is something that African-descended  people practice  daily and I am still learning what this way of being is and how to shape it into an experimental work. 

It has been a pleasure exploring Black Fugitivity through Torkwase Dyson’s  Black Compositional Thought, and Mishima Yukio’s Aesthetic Terrorism in different formats, mediums, and spaces such as living in Chicago/US, Kobe/Japan, and doing graduate  studies over the past few years. These have  inspired  me to explore how Black people practice freedom to survive/thrive in the United States and how mindedness is inherent in Japanese culture. 

For example, I can best describe my time in Japan as "being in a home I did not know you needed to be in." This is why I say I want to go to Japan all the time. The city of Kobe, in particular, feels like home because I do not need to have my guard up out in public or worry if I do not make it home or not. In Kobe, I can just be. 

In any home, a person should be able to just be. 

Tonight’s iteration of The Righteous Beauty of Things Never Accounted For nods to this in several indirect metaphorical ways from the use of fragmented memories to entanglement to destruction/creation to beauty/violence to self-sacrifice to Anime to rainbows. I hope you enjoy it.

ARTISTS

J’Sun Howard, Director

Timothy Tsang, Collaborator

Damon D. Green, Collaborator

Timothy ‘Solomon’ Bowser, Collaborator

Daiki Sogawa, Collaborator

Alain Sinandja, Collaborator

PRODUCTION TEAM

Giau Truong, Technical Director

Ale Favila, Lighting Designer

Katie Collins, Box Office Manager

Selena Lasley, House Manager

Music: “Overature” by April + Vista, “Laz Flores” by Hijo Pródigo, “20211130” by Ryuichi Sakamoto, “All Up In Your Mind” (Hidden Vocals) by Beyoncé, and “El derecho de vivir en paz” by Victor Jara sung by soprano Ayleen Jovita Romero

ABOUT RIGHTEOUS BEAUTY

The Righteous Beauty of the Things Never Accounted For (“Righteous Beauty”) explores Black Fugitivity, a concept that explores the ongoing and historical resistance to systems of oppression that Black people face and the ways in which we have sought to escape or evade those systems in order to preserve our autonomy, dignity, and freedom. Righteous Beauty uses movement as an anchor and source for practicing freedom, allowing us to discover unexpected beauty that’s typically hard to experience in a carceral state. It is an embodied look into existing when the cosmos does not want us to exist.

This iteration and preview of Righteous Beauty showcases an experimental dance piece that delves into the relentless resistance against oppressive systems faced by Black individuals throughout history and the unyielding pursuit of autonomy, dignity, and freedom. Righteous Beauty serves as a conduit for the exploration of freedom, unearthing hidden beauty that often eludes us within the confines of a carceral state. This immersive experience offers an intimate glimpse into the existence of Black people, defying cosmic forces that seek to erase us. With wake work, fragmentation, re/memory, and counter-memorial as its guiding principles, Righteous Beauty propels us forward, igniting hope for a brighter future.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

J’Sun Howard is a Chicago-based dancemaker. He holds an MFA in Dance and a certificate in World Performance Studies from the University of Michigan. He is a 2020 3Arts Awardee, a recipient of their inaugural Esteemed Artist Award from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and a 2019 Asian Cultural Council Fellow. A Links Hall Co-MISSION Fellow, a Ragdale Foundation Sybil Shearer Fellow, 2017 3Arts Make A Wave Awardee and 2014 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist. His works have been presented at Links Hall, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Defibrillator Performance Gallery, Patrick’s Cabaret (Minneapolis, MN), Danspace Project (NYC), Center for Performance Research (NYC), Detroit Dance City Festival (Detroit, MI), New Dance Festival (Daejeon, South Korea) where he won Best Dance Choreographer and the World Dance Alliance’s International Young Choreographers’ Project (Kaohsiung, Taiwan), among others. He has been commissioned by Common Conservatory, Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago, World Dance Alliance, and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Damon D. Green is a Chicago-based dance artist and founder of TEXTUREDance Studio, an Urban Styles and Forms dance and wellness facility where he spreads his passion for movement education. Green is an avid Vogue aesthetic practitioner, exploring, performing and teaching this form in its fusion with other movement disciplines. Green has collaborated with local choreographers and companies including Red Clay Dance, Paige Cunningham-Calderella, Darrell Jones, J'sun Howard, Philip Elson, Kristina Isabelle, Cecil Johnson Jr., Lional Freeman, Jane Beachy, Mauren Sledge (House of Avant-Garde), Bob Eisen, Molly Shanahan, as well as visual artist Faheem Majeed. Green teaches and attends workshops and master classes throughout Chicago as well as abroad. Damon joined The Seldoms in 2007, and has contributed to fourteen major projects. texturedance.com

Timothy Tsang is a queer Chinese American performer, choreographer and arts administrator. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago, where he performed in original works by Paige Cunningham-Calderella, Bob Eisen and Stephanie Paul, as well as repertoire by Merce Cunningham. Tsang has also performed with Ardent Dance Company, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Mordine & Company Dance Theater, Dance in the Parks Chicago, and in works by J’Sun Howard, Hannah Santisaven, and Kaela Norwood. He currently is a guest performer with The Seldoms for their 20th anniversary. In 2016, Tsang was commissioned by Columbia College Chicago to choreograph for its Open House. Additionally, he has set choreography on Esoteric Dance Project, Mordine & Company Dance Theater, Evanston Dance Ensemble, and has presented works at Auditorium Theater, Links Hall, Fulton Street Collective, Studio5, and The Edge Theater.

Timothy ‘Solomon’ Bowser, hails from the red clay hills of Stone Mountain, Ga. Bowser received his formative dance training from Zandra Taylor, Dean Williams and Pamela Jones Malave at DeKalb School of the Arts. Bowser received his BA at Columbia College Chicago in 2013. Bowser has performed with companies including Winifred Haun and Dancers, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, The Seldoms, Momenta Dance Company, Kanopy Dance Company, Motion/Pictures Dance Project and Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts. Bowser has also worked with Randy Duncan, Pascal Rioux, Deborah Carr, Ded Goodman, and J'Sun Howard. Bowser performed for the release of the 2016 “Coloring Book” mixtape for Chicago’s very own Chance The Rapper. In 2017, Bowser received an Intensive Co-Mission Residency at the arts incubator, Links Hall. In 2018, Bowser created and premiered MATTER for Winifred Haun & Dancers and co-starred in the dance film “Bleeding Backwards” by Motion/Pictures Dance Project’s Talia Koylass. Currently, Bowser serves his community as the Marketing Manager at See Chicago Dance.

Born in Osaka in 2000, Daiki Sogawa started classical ballet at the Tamaki Ballet School at the age of three. In 2008, he attended the boys class at Souda Ballet School. In 2012, he entered the Tanz Academie Zurich, later starring in Makoto Saito's work "The Rite of Spring ''. In 2015, he started searching for his own expression through painting. In the same year, he was selected as a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix. In 2016, he entered the Dutch National Ballet School as a trainee. In 2019, he joined the Toulouse Ballet Company in France. After returning to Japan in 2021, he and Kurumi Yoneda formed the creative dance unit UTSURIGI. produced works "Capricious" and "Dear my sea". He also appeared in Makoto Saito's work "Romeo and Juliet" and created the main visuals for its promotional materials. This year, he produced "still here" with Junnosuke Nishi.

Born and raised in Togo, Alain Sinandja embarked on his dance journey with Aske-Dance and SOJAF traditional dance company, establishing his professional career from 2010 to 2015. He achieved a diploma in African traditional and contemporary dance from École Des Sables in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal in 2017. Then he went to complete the 8-month choreographers dance program in Kobe, Japan in 2018. Since his relocation to Japan in 2018, he has collaborated with renowned artists like Kota Yamazaki on "Darkness* part3*" and Yasuko Yokoshi on "Lynch." In 2019, Alain participated in the Yokohama Dance Competition alongside Yu Shimomura's creation, leading them to win the first prize. Alain is the Founder/Aritstic founder of Cie ARTS FOR ALL and Happy African Festival. 

SUPPORT FOR RIGHTEOUS BEAUTY

This event is funded by the Art Theater Dance Box Kobe, Asian Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, National Performance Network, 3Arts Projects, the Center for World Performance Studies and International Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

Special thanks: Mario LaMothe, Clare Croft, Dana Daily, and Fumi Yokobori

ABOUT LINKS HALL

For 45 years, Links Hall has played a pivotal role in Chicago, encouraging artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Founded in 1978 by experimental choreographers, Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow, and Charlie Vernon, Links became a National Performance Network partner in 1998 and received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016. Links Hall supports multidisciplinary artists through residencies, festivals, subsidized rentals, and other resources for performers at every stage of their career.

Links Hall programming is made possible by artists, audiences, and support from: Arts Midwest GIG Fund, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Exelon, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Heather B. Henson Fund/Puppet Slam Network, Illinois Arts Council Agency, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, National Performance Network, The Charlie Vernon Performance Fund at the Evanston Community Foundation, The Jentes Family Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, The Martha Struthers Farley & Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, The Prince Charitable Trust, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and The Weasel Fund.

STAFF

Aaliyah Christina, Artist Programs Manager & Associate Curator

Katie Collins, Marketing & Development Manager

Mario LaMothe, General Manager

Emmanuel Neal, Interim Executive Director

Dana Pepowski, Programs Coordinator

Claire Sutton, Special Projects

Giau Truong, Production Manager & Associate Curator 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Amy Chavasse - Artistic Director, Chavasse Dance & Performance and Professor of Dance, the University of Michigan

Kim Davis - Founder and Principal, Five/6teen Consulting

Alyssa Gregory - Communications Manager, The University of Chicago and Marketing Associate and Associate Choreographer, The Fly Honey Show

Raj Goel -  Senior Enterprise Architect, Microsoft 

Ross Stanton Jordan - Curatorial Manager, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

Trevor Martin -  Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies and Senior Lecturer in the Performance Department, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Dan Nichols - Former Associate Dean for Finance in Social Sciences and Associate Dean for Operations in Humanities, the University of Chicago

Jon Pagac - Executive Director, J.P.Morgan

Tina Post - Assistant Professor of English and Theater and Performance Studies and affiliate of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago

Doreen Sayegh - Producer/General Manager, Pemberley Productions and Board Vice President, the League of Chicago Theatres

Michael Tokoph - Associate Director, Product Strategy at Huge

Tara Aisha Willis, Ph.D. - Curator in Performance & Public Practice, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Patrick Zakem - Creative Producer, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

ADVISORY BOARD

Cheryl Lynn Bruce - Ensemble Member, Teatro Vista

Bob Eisen - Founder of Links Hall 

E. Aaron Greven - Owner, AG Design Works

Tracie D. Hall - Executive Director, American Libraries Association

Maggie Kast - Author, Founder Chicago Contemporary Dance Theatre

Eva Silverman - Project Director, Art Design Chicago 

Blair Thomas - Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago International Puppetry Festival 

Michael Zerang - Musician, Former Links Hall Director