Lela Aisha Jones, Assistant Professor of Dance, Debuts ‘Revivals of Blackness’ with World Café

Fresh from a choreography debut with Red Clay Dance, Assistant Professor of Dance, Associate Artistic Director for Chicago-based arts organization Brownbody, and founder of “creative home” Fly Ground Lela Aisha Jones joins World Café Live on June 3 and June 6 for the livestream world premiere of “Revivals of Blackness.”

In this virtual ceremony, Jones collaborated with award-winning musicians Alex Shaw and Luke Carlos O’Reilly, and filmmaker Aidan Un to create “an artistic offering to our kindred, honoring the life-giving contributions of global Black folks by staying real and more than well as we navigate legacies of U.S. racial violence.”

“Revivals of Blackness” weaves together dance, music, poetry, interviews, and visuals to represent the fluid, wide range of experiences of diasporic Blackness. The free event premiers virtually via World Café Live’s livestream service on June 3 at 7:30 p.m. and again on June 6 at 7 p.m., both followed by a Q&A with the artists. 

An independent venue “designed to change the landscape for artists and audiences,” World Café Live partners with the Philadelphia-area artists to foster resounding audience experiences.

Lela Aisha Jones is a movement performance artist, an interdisciplinary collaborator, community-grounded organizer/curator, and the founding director of Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround, her creative research home. She earned a B.S. in health science education from the University of Florida, an M.F.A. in dance from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. from Texas Woman's University. Learn more about Jones and the rest of the program's faculty on the Dance Program page.