JELANI TAYLOR is a choreographer and founder of ERA DANCE COMPANY. Jelani and the company were artist/company in residence at Norfolk State University and a part of the Digging in Group, Artist Residency program at Green Space Studio. He is currently a 2024/25 Performance Project Fellow at University Settlement. Jelani graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a B.F.A in Dance and Choreography in 2019 where he was the recipient of the African American Studies Department’s “Black History in the Making” Award. @eradanceco / @Jelanireality

SUZZANNE PONOMARENKO DANCE will be showing vignettes #6 and #7 of a larger work entitled, Tapestries, to be fully realized during a residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center in May.

Tapestries will be guided by the curious narrative of The Unicorn Tapestries (1495-1505) reimagined through lesser known Ukrainian Folk Tales which interrelate with the dialogue of The Hunt of the Unicorn. It consists of seven short vignettes, each representing a different tapestry and folk tale, each of which will recognize a specific aspect of the subjective and brief narrative of The Queer Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American folks as mapped by visual artist, Anton Shebetko. This non-narrative based performance will unfold through rigorous and quirky dance vocabulary abstracted from Ukrainian Folk Dance, Ballet, and Modern Dance. It will serve as an embodied archive of the LGBTQIA+ people; an ever evolving Сморгасбург (Smorgasbord) of Queer Ukrainian Culture and History.