WIDEMAN DAVIS DANCE OF NEW YORK INC

Wideman Davis Dance of New York (WDD) is an interdisciplinary, dance companywhose programming and performances centralize the histories, present, and futures of Black communities in the Diaspora. During the 2024 fiscal year, WDD conducted an 18-week residency program in Harpersville, AL, and Columbia, SC. Over the course of the residency year, WDD completed multiple community performances, outreach and education events, and engaged local artists in the Harpersville and Columbia communities, providing financial support and mentoring. In addition to creating space for communities, they also emphasize working alongside its members. WDD prioritizes intergenerational work, fostering relationships, and creating spaces for communities to come together. WDDs work and audiences both exist in a space often neglected by mainstream dance companies. Their work shines a light on the myriad experiences of Black communities, centralizing their narratives, histories, and subjects. WDD moves audiences through the dances they create and perform, dialogues they lead, research they conduct, and movement experiences they share. They invite audiences and communities to engage ideas, history, and the world around us in order to better understand these themes and ideas. The outcome of this deeply entrenched community work is often empowerment for the community to continue the work WDD facilitated throughout their residency. This continuation can take many forms, but some outcomes include an increased capacity to better tell its own story, a broader network of artists and social justice workers for members to call upon, access to funding resources for both artists and communities, and connection to the resources of WDD.