Behind the Blues: Lecture 1 with Dr. Les Gray (8:00-9:00pm EST)
Join us for an online lecture with Dr. Les Gray, about where our current concept of race comes from.
Suggested donation: $5-25
https://withfriends.co/…/behind_the_blues_lecture_1…
Donations fund this and future lectures in the series.
This lecture is the first in a series of refreshers on Blues history, context, & culture, to help us better understand the blues genre and inspect how we participate in this art form.
Dr. Gray’s primary research area focuses on Black cultural production and its relationship to trauma and terror. They approach framed and unframed events ranging from plays and blues dancing to police brutality videos through the lens of performance. Dr. Gray considers performances of spectacular Black pain as well as considering the potential for joy, healing, and solidarity. While they pursue scholarship deeply invested in what it means to be ethical cultural producers, Dr. Gray’s work and theory is continually underscored by embodied knowledge and highlighting representations of intersectional identities which include race, sexuality class, disability, and gender. Their work is embedded in and indebted to Black radical feminism, queer theory, and disability studies. Dr. Gray is a dramaturg, collaborator, writer, and occasional performer.
Full bio: https://theatre.missouri.edu/people/gray
This event is brought to you by the Blues and Jazz Dance Book Club, Blues Union, Bluetopia, Powerhouse Blues, Terminus Blues Dance, Wilkerson Blues Dance, Fireside, BluesPort HK, and other blues dance organizations.
