A Site-Specific Dance Ritual for Hope and Ancestral Healing
Part of the 2021 LALA Performance Series
Miami, April 5, 2021 – Live Arts Miami (LAM) proudly presents Michelle Grant-Murray’s RoseWater, the first of six unforgettable new performances addressing climate change and sustainability produced by LAM’s 2020/2021 LALA Artists in Residence. The live performances will take place Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Pinecrest Gardens. Shows are free and open to the public with limited capacity.
A hauntingly beautiful piece of dance theater, RoseWater is a dance ritual inspired by the ancestral practice of rosewater baths prepared by the artist’s grandmother. The performance masterfully blends sobering revelation with hopeful inquiry, calling for transformational change and acknowledging the multigenerational legacy of healing and restoration passed down through ancestral lines in Black communities.
This thought-provoking, outdoor performance will transform Pinecrest Gardens into a space of inspired ritual movement, critical inquiry, and embodied memory, all organized into various stages and performances throughout the grounds, featuring some of Miami’s most talented performers accompanied by projections of originally-produced video works related to the themes of the performance.
The project kicks off the much-anticipated LALA Performance Series, the capstone to Live Arts Miami’s Live Arts Lab Alliance Artist (LALA) residency program, which empowers local performing artists from different backgrounds and disciplines to generate new work and establish new networks of creative feedback and collaboration.
In 2020, Live Arts Miami announced its latest cohort: six locally-based artists selected across performing arts disciplines to develop works centered on climate change and sustainability in Miami, including Michelle Grant-Murray, Dale Andree, Sandra Portal-Andreu, Fereshteh Toosi, Susan Caraballo, and Hattie Mae Williams.
ABOUT THE ARTIST, CAST AND CREW
Choreographer, Director, and Producer Michelle Grant-Murray is an independent choreographer, performer, and Artistic Director of Olujimi Dance Theatre. Currently, she is associate professor and coordinator of dance at MDC, where she is also the artistic director of the Jubilation Dance Ensemble and executive director of the annual Artistry-in-Rhythm Dance Conference. Prof. Grant-Murray holds a bachelor’s degree in dance from Jacksonville University, a master’s degree in African studies with a pedagogy and cultural studies concentration from Florida International University, and an MFA in choreography from Jacksonville University.
Performers include A’Keitha Carey, Melissa Cobblah-Gutierre, Erika Loyola, Shanna Woods, and Prof. Grant-Murray. Films by Woosler Delisfort and C.W. Griffin. Apon Nichols is the light designer, Edwena Hernandez is the costume designer.
COVID-19 safety guidelines:
This show will be presented live to a limited audience with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. All guests must register in advance and show their e-ticket on their mobile device at the door for a contactless experience. All are required to adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear the appropriate facial coverings correctly throughout the event, except when eating or drinking. This live performance is free and open to the public with limited capacity. RSVP required.
For more information about the artist, cast, and crew, visit www.liveartsmiami.org.
RSVP at www.liveartsmiami.org. Click here for photos and video.
WHAT: Michelle Grant-Murray’s RoseWater
WHEN: Friday and Saturday, April 23 & 24, at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Pinecrest Gardens, 11000 SW 57 Ave, Pinecrest
ABOUT LIVE ARTS MIAMI
Live Arts Miami is one of the city’s oldest and boldest performing arts series: an action-driven, people-centered platform for powerful performances, impactful community programs, and learning experiences that spark dialogue, raise awareness around pressing issues open minds and hearts in all who take part. Created in 1990 as Cultura del Lobo, Live Arts Miami is proud to be a part of Miami Dade College’s celebrated Department of Cultural Affairs. For three decades, Live Arts Miami has featured extraordinary performing artists and unforgettable performances, collaborations, and public art projects from all over the world. Today, Live Arts Miami is a regional model of principled innovation and excellence in public arts programming. A place for artists, audiences, and MDC students to come together as one. Please visit www.liveartsmiami.org and follow @liveartsmiami on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the latest updates.
The programs of Live Arts Miami are funded by Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; the National Endowment for the Arts; National Performance Network (NPN); the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. MDC Live Arts is a Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). Major NPN contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Live Arts Miami Contacts: María Montoya, Marketing Specialist, 305-237-7733, mmontoy6@mdc.edu; José A. Portela, Communications Specialist, jvillar2@mdc.edu