L to R: Devon Fitchett, Dana Fitchett, Photo by Jorge Galvez
dana e. fitchett is a multidisciplinary artist and radical mixed-race Black woman who uses her relationship to music, visual art, and movement as a sandbox for exploration of identity and issues of justice, and for seeking healing from racism and capitalism through the reimagination of possibilities. Trained in classical ballet from a young age, dana later explored a vast range of movement styles, including tap, modern, hip-hop, and jazz, from all different cultural traditions. In the early- to mid-2000s, she was put on to underground house music clubs in Boston, New York, and other cities on the East Coast; in these clubs, she was able to access her authentic movement, unlimited by artificial and imposed barriers. The result is something that’s not particularly definable: a fluid, subtle, nuanced response to music with evidence of influence from ballet as well as from traditional West African styles. Her visual art is also committed to unapologetic authenticity, consistently abstract and similarly fluid and nuanced.
Collaborator bios:
Lauren Benjamin: Lauren is a Bay Area native and multi-disciplinary artist who has cultivated a thriving dance career over the last 25 years. She holds a BFA in painting and photography and a Master’s degree in Education. Lauren is also an alumni of the legendary School at Jacob’s Pillow, where she worked under the close direction of renowned choreographer, Camille A. Brown. She has danced with Phoenix Dance Company, Basic Contemporary Jazz Collective, Embodiment Project, Loose Change and Starchild Dance Company, among other professional companies. Lauren has presented her choreography at San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Festival, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, as well as the MoAD (Museum of African Diaspora) in San Francisco. Her latest work was presented this past August at ODC Theater in the Mona Khan Company show, AWAAZ.
Lindsay Leonard is a polycultural performing artist, dance educator, and arts administrator. Her developing artistic identity and movement style is in flux through a constant dialing into the present and understanding of her family’s cultural and personal histories. She endeavors to use dance as a way to reflect her Japanese American heritage, deviate from the traditional, and explore the inclusion of the other. Lindsay is currently on staff at RoCo Dance & Fitness, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and the ODC Youth & Teen Program.
Jennifer Meek Jennifer graduated magna cum laude from Point Park University with a BFA in contemporary dance. Her career began in Chicago where she performed with Thodos Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Concert Dance and Hedwig Dances. In the San Francisco Bay Area she has performed with Kunst-stoff, Capacitor, Moving Arts, Blind Tiger Society and presently with punkkiCo and CALI & CO. In addition to performing she teaches contemporary dance at Sonoma State University and her choreography has been presented at the Dance Chicago Festival, Ruth Page Center for the Arts Chicago, California Center for the Arts Escondido, The Garage SF, Dance Mission Theater, and Spector Dance’s Emerging Choreographer Showcase. Jennifer is also a yoga therapist specializing in working with incarcerated youth and people with PTSD, Hypertension, Diabetes, Chronic Pain and Anxiety/Depression. For more information on Jennifer’s current teaching and performing schedule visit www.jennifermeek.com.