Reading the Body: Dance and Film Premiere on Body Politic
The BLR community and The Paige Fraser Foundation had a fantastic time at the premiere of our newest dance/poetry film, Reading the Body: Body Politic, at The New York Academy of Medicine. Thank you to all who came out to the historic—and stunning!—Reading Room at NYAM, where we enjoyed conversation, a reception, the film premiere, and a fascinating panel discussion. The film was moving and thought-provoking, as were the audience questions to our panel about poetry, dance, healthcare, identity, society, disability, and equity. We walked away with new insights, new friends, and a healthy dose of inspiration for the week.
Featuring the BLR poetry of Alene Terzian-Zeitounian, Lisa Mullenneaux, Vera Kroms, and Paul Howe.
Watch the full Reading the Body film:
Panelists
Paul J. Edwards is assistant professor of English and Dramatic Literature at NYU and a book reviews editor for The Black Scholar. He previously taught at Southern Methodist University and held a fellowship at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts. His work brings together studies in Black American performance, modernism, and sexuality.
Miriam Rowan is a psychologist who cares for performing artist-athletes, trauma-related disorders, eating disorders, career transitions, and identity exploration/clarification. She practices in New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and is affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Sports Medicine and Harvard Medical School. She was previously a dancer with the San Francisco.
Nisha Sajnani is the Director of the NYU Program in Drama Therapy and Theatre & Health Lab. She is also on faculty with the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and is a co-founding, co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, established as a collaboration with the WHO, with a mission to measurably improve lives through the arts.
Moderator
Danielle Ofri is editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review. Her day job is a doctor at Bellevue Hospital and clinical professor of medicine at NYU, but she studied at the Alvin Ailey School during high school and at the Martha Graham School during her medical training. She’s written about dance and medicine, and has authored six books about medicine and the doctor-patient connection.
Dancers
Christian Paris Blue is a performance artist originally from Phoenix, currently based in New York City. Blue has toured internationally with Parsons Dance, performed in the opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera, and has shown his own work in settings such as The Shed in NYC and the Venice Biennale. Outside of dance, Blue is a recording artist, sound designer, and producer. IG @christianparisblue
Paige Fraser-Hoffman is a professional dancer, model, and scoliosis advocate. A graduate of Ailey/Fordham BFA, she is the Chief Artistic Officer and Program Director of Dance for The Paige Fraser Foundation. She is a Princess Grace Award recipient and has been one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” She is currently in the Lion King on Broadway, and recently received her MA in Arts & Culture Advocacy from the University of Denver. IG: @lovingthispaige.
Christian Warner is an interdisciplinary performing artist, choreographer, and director. His company credits include Boca Tuya, NVA & Guests, Sidra Bell Dance New York, TU Dance, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Ponybox Dance Theatre and Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre. He has performed repertoire from creators Alvin Ailey, Bryan Arias, Raja Feather Kelly, Darius Barnes, Rena Butler, Kayla Farrish, and Slowdanger.
IG @itschristianalexander
Samantha Barriento, a native of Queens, studied at LaGuardia Performing Arts High School and the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. She danced for Ailey II from 2014-2016. She has performed overseas with Step One Dance Company and most recently returned from the Lion King Rafiki Tour. IG @samantha_barriento
Poets
Paul Howe is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. His work also appears in Mid-American Review.
Vera Kroms was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany to Latvian parents who emigrated to Boston. She earned a BS and MA in mathematics, becoming a computer programmer. She is the author of Necessary Harm and The Pears of Budapest.
Lisa Mullenneaux has published two chapbooks and contributes poems and essays to the New England Review, Tampa Review, and Prairie Schooner. She specializes in the translation of modern French and Italian poets, lives in Manhattan, and teaches writing at the University of Maryland GC.
Alene Terzian-Zeitounian is a globally-minded leader, poet, and educator whose work focuses on advocacy and identity. She is the humanities department chair at College of the Canyons, where she teaches creative writing. Her work appears in the Colorado Review, Mizna, and Rise Up Review.