SKATE TRUTH
TO POWER
An original repertory of
movement + sound + storytelling
in modern dance + figure skating + theater
Grounded in African diasporic perspectives, Brownbody’s mission is to build artistic experiences that disrupt biased narratives and prompt audiences to engage as active participants in the journey. Brownbody accomplishes this through a blend of modern dance, theater, social justice, and figure skating.
MN Original
BROWNBODY FLASHES BACK TO FLASH FOWARD
How the past, present, and future converge in a performing-arts company like no other.
ABOUT BROWNBODY
Blending modern dance, theater, social justice and skating since 2007, Brownbody received its 501c3 status in 2013. Brownbody cultivates space to process and creates artistic work that offers honest and nuanced stories rooted in blackness.
Brownbody presents artistic work both on and off of the ice. Brownbody prioritizes representation and is fortunate to work with an all Black cast of professional skaters for its on ice artistic work.
Join us for our donation-based Learn to Skate lessons taught by Brownbody instructors and assistants. No experience required.
Brownbody’s statement on the white supremacy and racism embedded in the fabric of formalized white skating systems and institutions :
Brownbody is and has always been in support of Black and Brown Lives. We are an arts organization that blends modern dance, theater, social justice practice, and figure skating. We intentionally work on building anti-racist, anti-oppression, and trauma-informed spaces and communities. We build work that nourishes Black and Brown dancers, skaters, performers, and the Black and Brown communities of which we are a part. Black Lives Matter!By the very nature of our work we are intertwined with the skating community. While we do have personnel partners at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and white supporters that have been dedicated in their work with Brownbody, we recognize that racism continues to prevail as a cornerstone of the structural fabric of the skating world. People do and can make a difference. However, the general oversight and governance systems that are at the root of so many arts, dance, and skating institutions continue to be drenched in white supremacist ideology and racism.
We denounce the refusal of the skating world to work on and dismantle racist and white supremacist orientations. We are not affiliated or associated with any skating club, US Figure Skating/ISI (Ice Skating Institute), or any formalized skating-based entity because of the rampant discrimination against Black and Brown skaters that continues to occur in those spaces. We see you and we look forward to observing your undoing of racism and oppression in ice skating.
Our FUnders
In addition to incredible individual donors, Brownbody is supported by the following:
Brownbody is supported by the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund Phase 2, an initiative of Arts Midwest and its peer United States Regional Arts Organizations made possible by an anonymous donor.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.