I DReam of Greenwood

A Dance Film

Choreographed by Marie Casimir & J’aime Griffith
Creative Director, Marie Casimir
Dramaturgy by Leslie Kraus
Co-sponsored by World Literature Today and  OU School of Dance

I Dream of Greenwood is a dance inspired by the personal accounts of survivors of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, as told to historian and activist Eddie Faye Gates and featured in her book Riot on Greenwood. The dance will move through the dreamscapes of the children who inherited both the rich legacy of a thriving community and the trauma of one of the worst single acts of racial violence in American history. Through their eyes, we hope to relive, remember, and restore.

This film was originally commissioned by World Literature Today for Reflecting on the Past, Facing the Future

University of Oklahoma’s Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Symposium

Video production by Scissortail Media
Audio and sound engineering by Andriotis Music & Audio

This program is made possible, in part, by the Norman Arts Council Grant Program.

Next exhibition: May 7 - June 17, 2021 | Living Arts Tulsa | Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project

Installation Exhibit

WE REMEMBER, WE RESTORE

Choreographed and envisioned by Marie Casimir & J'aime Griffith

Directed by Marie Casimir & Mat Miller

Produced by Djaspora Productions, Afrikantion Artists, 1984 Studios

Filmed against the lush backdrop of the Crystal Bridge Conservatory, we find promise in the seed, resilience in the bend, and power in the break.

Originally created for Sill Here: The Cosmology of Black Resilience | Curated by Ebony Iman Dallas, Afrikantion Artists & Marie Casimir, Djaspora Productions

Film Festival Screenings:

DOSABAMA Film Fest | May 1 - May 30, 2021

Kileen Black Art & Film Festival | May 22nd

Austin Dance Festival: Dance on Film | May 29, 2021

DANCECINEMA | July 2, 2021

Marasa

In Haitian Vodou Cosmology the Marasa are mirrors of each other bringing abundance and blessings, but there is also a flip-side. They are sacred twins, they are identical, yet sexless - they are the potential, therefore, they contain everything - male and female, light and dark, positive and negative.

In this performance-installation, I follow the journey of Marasas separated before the birth canal , but who meet in dream space to commune, to negotiate and to find their way back. They exist inside and somewhere between Cap-Haitien, Haiti and New Orleans, LA. Bound by migration, by Vodou and Catholicism, by culture, by music, by dance, by gumbo, by people, by blood memory.

Supported by a Ragdale Fellowship

Script & Movement Development in Process
Need support for a movement residency, travel, paid mentorship to complete the work.

Contact marieacasimir@gmail.com to support the continued development of the work