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ROOTS Weekend-Dallas – October 20-23, 2016 – was the fourth of six regional gatherings that Alternate ROOTS convened throughout the South from 2015-2017. Through the theme of Creating Vibrant Communities, ROOTS Weekend-Dallas gathered artists and activists from throughout Texas whose work cultivates health, safety, and sustainability in and with their communities. Our focus on Creating Vibrant Communities resists structural oppression and violence – including police brutality, deportation, and gentrification – by lifting up the life-sustaining practices of art making and cultural organizing.
ROOTS Weekends are a condensed version of ROOTS Week, our signature gathering. These three-day convenings bring artists, organizers, and cultural workers together to build community and share work through performance and visual arts, workshops and dialogues. ROOTS Weekends deepen our collective understanding of the work of social change by celebrating artists and organizers who are working within communities to develop creative solutions to long-standing issues.
This was ROOTS’ first major event in Texas since adopting the state into our service region in 2008. We partnered with local cultural organizers, South Dallas Cultural Center and Ignite Arts Dallas, to produce this ROOTS Weekend. Through ROOTS Weekend-Dallas, we were especially hoping to grow ROOTS’ presence and impact throughout Texas by connecting local artists, cultural organizers, and creatives with regional and national partners, peer organizations, and funders.
ROOTS Weekend in Dallas, TX: Overview Schedule of Events
Thursday, October 20
7-10pm: KickOff Party and Gallery Opening @ South Dallas Cultural Center
The KickOff Party is free and open to the public, and features a visual arts exhibition curated by the South Dallas Cultural Center around the weekend’s theme, Creating Vibrant Communities, as well as music, film, and spoken word presented by Rebel Planet, Krudas Cubensi, and King Shakur.
Friday, October 21
8:45 am-3:30 pm: Out & About: Dallas Excursion
This excursion is sold out! Tickets are still available for all other ROOTS Weekend-Dallas programming.
This guided bus tour takes us to five grassroots, artist-led spaces: Trans.lation, Ash Studios, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, The Meet Shop, and Pan African Connection.
Participants will meet at 8:45 am at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Dallas Medical/Market Center (2110 Market Center Boulevard at Stemmons). Lunch will be served enroute.
7-8pm: Reception @ Latino Cultural Center
8pm-10pm: Incite Dallas! A Night of Activist Art @ Latino Cultural Center
Plantation Remix, Progress Theatre
Pretty Cultured Dance, Stacy Allen
And He Became a Man, Samuel Valdez
Searching for My Mother’s Song, Ashley Wilkerson
ALIENS, IMMIGRANTS & OTHER EVILDOERS, José Torres-Tama
These evening performances are presented by Alternate ROOTS in association with South Dallas Cultural Center, Ignite Dallas, and Latino Cultural Center.
Saturday, October 22
Workshops and Art Sharing @ South Dallas Cultural Center
10-10:30 am Welcome to Texas! Introduction to ROOTS Weekend-Dallas
10:45 am-12:00 pm: Workshops
SoulWork Workshop, Cristal Chanelle Truscott, PHD
Performance and Workshop, Frida Espinosa Muller
Public Art and Vibrant Communities: Getting Specific, Jeff Mather
12-1 pm: Community Lunch
1-2:15 pm: Workshops
What’s the HHAP? (Hip Hop As Poetry), King Shakur
Arts Activism in the Climate/Environmental Justice Movement in Texas, Yudith Nieto, Aly Tharp, Bekah Hinojosa, Jayeesha Dutta
2:30-3:45 pm: Workshops
Where Earth Meets Sky, Edyka Chilomé & Vanessa Mercado Taylor
Hip-Hop Vs Rap, Busi Peters-Maughn
4-5:15 pm: Workshops
Ebony ‘N’ Me Dance Workshop, Sunshine Harris
5:15-7 pm: Community Dinner
8-10 pm: Evening of Experimental Films presented by Ignite Dallas
Black Radical Imaginations is a series of experimental films by black filmmakers based out of Los Angeles.
10 pm-1 am: Special ROOTS Weekend-Dallas Edition of Poetry Vs. Hip-Hop, hosted by Dj Knowdat and Queen Sheba
Sunday, October 23
10-10:15 am: Welcome and Closer Look at Alternate ROOTS
10:15-11:30 am: Workshops
Creating Vibrant Communities Story Circle, Tufara Muhammad & Carlton Turner
Written on Your Body, S.T.Shimi
11:45 am-1 pm: Workshops
Twerk it Out, Sunshine Harris
Tribute to the Disappeared, Andrea Arroyo
1-1:30 pm: Closing & Lunch to Go
3pm: Bonus Art Activity! Theater Mitu’s Juarez: A Documentary Mythology @ Latino Cultural Center
For more information call 214.768.2417 or visit smu.edu/igniteartsdallas. For free entry, show your ROOTS Weekend Pass.
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Our Partners:
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The ROOTS Weekend Series is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.