For the first Studies Project of the Fall 2026 season, Black Dance Change Makers returns to MR to offer Root Work, an interactive workshop that invites participants to trace, map, and celebrate their personal and collective lineage through dance. Drawing on the work of Black feminist scholars like Sylvia Wynter’s call to undo the stories that overrepresent a narrow version of the human, and the understanding of Black history as lived and non-linear by Christina Sharpe and Saidiya Hartman, we center Black dance lineage as a counter-narrative. Our lineage is woven through memory, movement, mentorship, and community. It’s the people, spaces, and traditions that shaped us.
Facilitated by Black Dance Change Makers, this workshop invites you to ask:
Who taught you to dance? Who taught them? Whose shoulders are you standing on? And what does it mean to carry that forward?
We gather to say their names, and to trace what has always been moving, even when it wasn’t being recorded.
We come from deep roots. The seeds planted before us are still sprouting in us.
For event-related questions, please email studiesproject@movementresearch.org.
Accessibility Notes
- This event includes auditive guidance.
- This event includes a teext/images/video shared on a large screen television.
- This event includes readings.
To request ASL interpretation or Audio Description, please email accessibility@movementresearch.org, subject line “ASL/Audio Description Request, Studies Project ” at least three (3) weeks prior to the event date.
For access-related questions and requests, please contact accessibility@movementresearch.org, subject line “Studies Project.”
Register for this event
In-Person
This is a FREE event, a suggested $5 donation is encouraged and appreciated!
Please ONLY register if you plan to attend. Each person wishing to attend must register individually.
Once RSVPs have reached capacity, a waitlist will become available. Entry from the waitlist will be according to the date and time each name was added.
