The Authentic Self: Black Body & Identity Now!

The Schomburg Center and the National Black Theater in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic presents artists and scholars Qween Jean, Dominique Rider, Tracy K. Smith, and Adrian Loving in conversation about art, identity, and issues of beauty as part of the Philharmonic’s .

This program will be streamed online. You must register with your email address in order to receive the link to participate. Please check your email shortly before the discussion to receive the link.

Qween Jean is a New York based Stage and Film Costume Designer. They have worked at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, and Santa Fe Opera. She is a native of South Florida and began her theater career at Florida School of the Arts. Qween Jean has an MFA in Design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and has draped costumes for over 30 shows and works freelance throughout the year.

Adrian Loving is a noted contemporary art and music historian, visual artists and DJ/ Entrepreneur. Over the course of his 20-year career, Loving has curated art exhibitions and public programming at various museums and cultural institutions; including the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art (NMAFA), The National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Art and Corcoran Gallery of Art, amongst many others. In his most recent book / video project Fade 2 Grey, Loving explores the intersection of androgyny, art and fashion with a focus on musicians from the 1980’s including: David Bowie, Grace Jones and Prince.

Dominique Rider is a Brooklyn-based director whose work seeks to answer the question: “What is a world unmade by slavery?” while attempting to analyze the layers of anti-blackness that maintain the world we live in. Deploying theatre and performance as tools of Afropessimism, Dominique has developed and staged work with Audible, The New Group, NYTW, Roundabout, The Atlantic, Princeton, Rattlestick, BRIC Arts, Two River, Portland Center Stage, and more. Past fellowships/residencies include TheaterWorks Hartford, NYSAF, BRIC Arts, Roundabout, and NAMT. Currently, Dominique is a resident director at The National Black Theatre and a producer with CLASSIX.

Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, editor, translator and librettist. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017-19, during which time she spearheaded American Conversations: Celebrating Poetry in Rural Communities with the Library of Congress, launched the American Public Media podcast The Slowdown, and edited the anthology American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time. Smith is the author of the poetry collections Wade in the Water, which was awarded the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; Life on Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize; Duende, winner of the 2006 James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets; and The Body’s Question, which received the 2003 Cave Canem Prize.

Coming Soon! Readers everywhere who wish to order copies of FADE TO GREY: ANDROGYNY, STYLE & ART IN 80s DANCE MUSIC by Adrian Loving can do so online at The Schomburg Shop. All proceeds benefit The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

FADE TO GREY: ANDROGYNY, STYLE & ART IN 80s DANCE MUSIC is an insightful collection of essays and interviews about the influential decade of the 1980s and its cultural impact on the expansion of gender, art, and music. Legendary artists such as Andy Warhol and Richard Bernstein — as well as musicians including David Bowie, Grace Jones, Sylvester, and Prince — are featured along with a unique glimpse into the birth of club culture in America. Rare photographs, flyers, and oral histories from the pioneers of dance music: Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Robert Williams, Ken Collier, Ron Trent, and Danny Krivit. These icons give context to disco, house, and electronic music, born in Chicago, New York, and Detroit in the late 70s and exploding onto the scene in the 80s.

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PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].

Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

Event Venue

Online