Postponed: Raw Fruit by KM Dance Project
**PLEASE NOTE THAT THE KM DANCE PERFORMANCES OF RAW FRUIT SCHEDULED FOR JAN 14 - 16 HAVE BEEN POSTPONED FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY CONCERNS. THE EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE.***
Raw Fruit by Kesha McKey and KM Dance Project is a multidisciplinary dance work that reveals the essence of ancestral values woven into the cultural fabric of Black lives, and examines legacy, identity, socialization, unity, and friction inside the southern Black family dynamic.
Photo by Melissa Cardona
Photo by Jafar Pierre
Photo by Melisa Cardona
Using dance as the foundational medium to elevate the voices of African American women, Raw Fruit is steeped in the movement, sound and spirit of Black folks in New Orleans and layered with visceral expressions of lineage, retention and ancestral memory. From crawfish boils to second lines, living room altars to junior daughters, and bread pudding to pecan pralines, these experiences, rituals and ancestral contributions have created a web of lineage connecting our present experiences with customs rooted in the past.
We recognize and value what we have acquired, what we release, what we hold and what we will share with those who come after us. Raw Fruit is a celebration of New Orleans culture juxtaposed to the complexities of the African American experience in the south.
Raw Fruit: A New Work by Kesha McKey and KM Dance Project
Lead Artists: Kesha McKey, Catherine Caldwell
Creative Collaborators:
Dance Theater Artists: Chanice Holmes, Jasmin Simmons-Edmonds, Millenique Brown
Music/Sound Artist: free feral
Spoken Word Artist: Sunni Patterson
Film Artist: Milo Daemgen
Lighting Designer: John D. Alexander
Tech Support: Amara Skinner
Raw Fruit Project Collaborators
Sunni Patterson, New Orleans Native and Visionary, is an internationally acclaimed Poet, Performer, Workshop Facilitator, Certified Spiritual Life Coach/Consultant, and an Initiated Priestess and Minister. She began her career as a full-time high school Teacher, and much of her life since has been devoted to serving as a Cultural Worker and Activist. Sunni is a 2020/2021 John O’Neal Cultural Arts Fellow. She currently serves as a Resident Artist for both the City of New Orleans’ Claiborne Corridor Cultural Initiative and Junebug Productions. She is also co-founder, along with Scientist and Atmospheric Chemist, Cherelle Blazer, of Environmental Arts and Public Health Organization, Breath is Lyfe.
Amara Elizabeth Skinner is a very talented musician, freelance sound designer, audio engineer, stage manager, and production manager. She nurtured her talents at Loyola University of New Orleans by obtaining her bachelors degree in Music Industry Studies in 2019. Since then, Amara has worked for many musical artists, theater companies, festivals, venues, and commercial audio visual companies in the Greater New Orleans Area. She sound designs for The NOLA Project and started her role as production manager for No Dream Deferred in 2021. She became the KM Dance touring stage manager and audio engineer in 2021 after being in partnership with the company since 2019. Amara’s ultimate goal is to inspire Black women and queer people in tech and to be supportive to black creatives.
John D. Alexander is a DC-based theatrical lighting designer who has worked in regional theater, OFF-broadway, television and film for the past decade. His work has been seen across the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean with such companies as The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, TheatreSquared, Theatre Alliance, The Black Rep, Avant Bard, Detroit Public Theatre, Signature Theatre, Hangar Theatre Company and Mosaic Theatre Company. Upcoming companies include, Everyman Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival and Chicago Opera Theatre. He received a 2020 Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design for his work on Topdog Underdog (Avant Bard). He has also designed for Morgan State University, Catholic University, Bowie State University, Georgetown University and George Mason University. He holds a BFA in Lighting Design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and received the 2010 William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship for Lighting Design at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Milo Daemgen is a New Orleans based filmmaker and media artist. He is a co-owner of the award-winning production company, The Greenhouse Collective, and has produced and directed award-winning short films, documentaries and commercials working with the likes of Mavis Staples, Big Freedia, Arcade Fire, Google, Rakuten, and Polaroid. His work has been shown in art galleries such as THE FRONT, OCHI, VYES, and MAY. He is currently in post-production with his ITVS documentary series exploring New Orleans criminal justice system. He has been awarded grants from the Southern Documentary Fund, Redbull Arts, NPN Southern Artists for Social Change, and Emerging Voices. He served on the board for New Orleans Public Access TV and is the founder of the New Orleans Film Collective.
Mask-wearing is required when attending performances in the CAC's Black Box Theater. The CAC will continue to adhere to City and State health guidelines as they develop. Questions? Contact us at info@cacno.org.
Raw Fruit was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Raw Fruit is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Junebug Productions in partnership with Ashe Cultural Arts Center, B.A.A.D! and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org.
