麻豆视频

In newest chapter of ongoing 鈥楥onversation Series,鈥� CU Boulder鈥檚 Helanius J. Wilkins explores concepts of belonging and being heard

The seeds of the dance were planted in walks.

It was 2020, and the way Helanius J. Wilkins saw it, COVID-19 wasn鈥檛 the only pandemic. 鈥淪tructural racism in our country is also a pandemic,鈥� he explains, a fact that gained a spotlight following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd.

鈥淭hose were the two seeds that really launched me into this journey,鈥� says Wilkins, an associate professor and director of dance in the 麻豆视频 Department of Theatre and Dance. 鈥淚 have a saying that I meet adversity by actioning through the arts, which is me finding my footing again inside of all of those things.

鈥淚n 2020, I was noticing what was happening to me in that time, and what came to light was that I basically was in a place of a lot of fear. I was afraid to leave my own place, I was afraid to be in public in the body that I鈥檓 in.鈥�

So, he began walking鈥攅very day, by himself, same time, same path, sometimes up to 16 miles. It was his way of reorienting himself to and in his surroundings and creating space for his surroundings to reorient him.

鈥淭his work in so many way is me walking across the country and inviting others to walk with me to expand their sense of belonging,鈥� he explains of the newest chapter of his ongoing work 鈥� premiering this weekend in the Roe Green Theatre.

鈥淭he vision for this work was to create a path for me to unlearn fear, to create a path for others to unlearn fear, to create a greater sense of belonging and opportunities to listen to one another. We can鈥檛 have belonging unless we come together and listen.鈥�

鈥楥onversation is a passage鈥�

In broadest terms, 鈥淭he Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging鈥� is a 鈥渃ollaborative, immersive work, performed by two men with different racial and cultural backgrounds鈥� who perform an 鈥渙ngoing and always shifting dance-quilt, confronting and celebrating heritage, resilience, justice and hope.鈥� The work centers belonging as a way to 鈥渄isrupt the erasure of silenced stories and forge paths towards justice/equitable landscapes. 鈥楾he Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging鈥� is a dynamic intersection of contemporary dance, performance art, technology (video and interactive gaming), music, fashion and design.鈥�

A key to all of it, Wilkins says, is conversation and listening. As he was conceptualizing it, he had conversations with people across Colorado鈥攊n rural and urban settings, on the Front Range and Western Slope, in mountain resorts and small towns.

What he heard is that 鈥渆veryone is interested in belonging, everyone is interested in their stories being heard and seen and everybody鈥檚 interested in their histories being protected in some way, shape or form,鈥� Wilkins says. 鈥淭he key is how we get to that and find those meeting points.鈥�

He found a nexus between the art of conversation and listening, the art of dance and social justice because 鈥渢here is no social justice without the body. We have to bring our bodies to the frontline to make the changes that we desire to see. What this work is for me is it鈥檚 a way of bringing forward two bodies in this current moment, bringing two bodies to the frontline, choosing to be at the frontline, to work together to figure out what it means to coexist.

鈥淲hat I鈥檓 not striving to do is tell someone else鈥檚 story, because it鈥檚 not mine to tell, but I can reveal my story and show how I鈥檓 grappling with someone else and how I can understand what we are in relationship to these other stories.鈥�

For Wilkins, performance feels, in many ways, like a continuing conversation and an invitation to lean in with curiosity and ask perhaps the biggest question: 鈥淲hat does it mean to create the world that we deserve, one that can work for everyone?鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat does it mean to sit with that for 90 minutes and to dream, to hear bits and pieces of how people are grappling with reflections on ancestry or the present while we鈥檙e also trying to work and construct a future that we don鈥檛 know?鈥�

The performance, Wilkins says, reflects his 鈥渁udacity to hope鈥� and his commitment to 鈥渒nowing or feeling that things can be different and that we can find a space where more people feel a sense of belonging and where more of us can come together.

鈥淚 hope that audience members walk away hopeful鈥攈opeful because conversations are happening and we鈥檙e invited to join them. Conversation is a passage, but it doesn鈥檛 have to be the end point, there are ways in which audiences will be able to continue the journey with me in some way, shape or form.鈥�

Top image:听Brandon Welch, left, and听Helanius J. Wilkins, right, and perform听鈥淭he Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging." (Photo:听Paul Kieu. (c)2023)

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