Lead artist, Cynthia C. Harris, MPH will serve as playwright and facilitator for proposed choreopoem and performance project, funded in part with support from a Metro Arts THRIVE Project award. In partnership with Leah Alexander, PHD, MPH Director and Associate Professor with Meharry Medical College’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program in the School of Graduate Studies. Thirteen second-year students will work with the lead artist to develop an original choreopoem around the social and political determinants of health as they impact their own lives.
Ms. Harris is uniquely suited for this work based on her 20 years of practice and training in behavioral health, cultural competency, and community engagement. Ms. Harris has led several programs based in autobiographical writing and performance. Ms. Harris has been creating original choreopoems since 2002 and creating a resurgence of the choreopoem for Nashville audiences, with plays like HOW TO CATCH A FLYING WOMAN(2018) and THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY (2022), which have both received high praise from audiences and critics alike. The term “choreopoem” was first coined by playwright Ntozake Shange, a dancer and poet, to describe her groundbreaking work For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. It has come to represent a body of work that combines personal narrative, oral history, movement, and music. Choreopoems are a particular form of artmaking that speak directly to the experience of being Black or marginalized in America, playing on Black Aesthetics of performance, like call and response. The choreopoem focuses on creating an emotional response from the audience. Ms. Harris believes this emotional response to be an important tool for sharing and processing factors that impact the health of communities of color.
The Creative Team!!!
Beginning with an introduction to choreopoems workshop, created and facilitated by Cynthia C. Harris. MPH, students will be guided through the process of creating autobiographical monologues, songs, and poems from writing prompts. A vocabulary of movement to be included in the final performance will also be developed during the Fall 2023 semester in conjunction with their Health Education and Promotion course, which is required for all second year graduate students. The performance will be further developed and rehearsed during the Spring 2024 semester. Student-participants will be welcomed to perform or the lead artist will identify community artists to join the production as needed.
Actors
Tyler Bibb
Briana Finley
Milton Jackson
Patrićyonna Rodgers
Natalie Tita
Brayonna Townsend
Co- Directors
Cynthia C. Harris
Alicia Haymer
Choreography and Movement Direction
Gabrielle Saliba
Producer and Acting Coach
Vali Forrister
Writers
Sydney Batts
Robyn McDaniel
Mia Barber
Maurice Swift
Dr. Leah Alexander
Tredarius Lassiter
Kendra Bettis
Kaylah Dowdell
Jayla Williams
Sariah Harris
Elijah Johnson
Doresha Robinson
Alisha Puri
Alexis Cunningham
Healing Waters Productions 