Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.
WHAT: Krystal Collins/new growth collective at the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
WHEN: Tuesday, July 20th; Wednesday, July 21st; Friday, July 23rd; and Saturday, July 24th
WHERE: The Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens; 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008; Parking Directions
TICKETS: Available at midnight on June 28th here
This summer, Krystal Collins/new growth collective will present a site-specific, movement-based performance commission and presentation at the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens from Wednesday, July 21 to Sunday, July 25. In partnership with Hillwood, the performance work will be presented in tandem with California-based sculpture artist Kristine Mays’ incoming sculpture installation, Rich Soil. The exhibition features 29 life-sized sculptures capturing bodies in motion; Mays says that her sculptures were inspired by Alvin Ailey’s acclaimed work, Revelations. Each of the installations are accompanied by narratives written by Mays which are inspired by African-American sayings, culture, and folklore.
In dialogue with Rich Soil, Krystal Collins/new growth collective’s commissioned work aims to amalgamate many facets of Blackness, including queerness, girl/womanhood, popular culture, joy, and ancestral and spiritual practices. This inaugural work as Krystal Collins/new growth collective will leverage these themes in order to create a sustainable artistic practice that is community-centered.
Event Timeline:
5:30-7 p.m. Explore Hillwood’s mansion, gardens, Rich Soil, and Roaring Twenties,
museum shop, and greenhouse, and Merriweather To Go
Picnicking on the Lunar Lawn
7-8 p.m. Performance in the gardens
About Krystal Collins/new growth collective
Hailing from the Midwest, Krystal Leniece Collins (she/they) captivated their first audience in the produce section of the local Moo & Oink (may the beloved Chicago grocery chain rest in power). They are a performer, choreographer, dance educator, curator, administrator and most importantly a proud power disrupting Sagittarius. For them, dance and movement are vehicles that drive toward community, social change and liberation. As a Black non-binary femme, Krystal’s artistic practice amalgamates many lenses of Blackness, including: queerness, girl/womanhood, popular culture, joy, ancestral and spiritual practices. new growth collective is a decentralized movement and dance education incubator that champions fluidity, world building and movement as mutual aid. Still in its inaugural year, learn more about new growth collective on Instagram (@newgrowthco_).
About Hillwood Estate, Museum, & Gardens
Marjorie Merriweather Post bought Hillwood in 1955 and soon decided her home would be a museum that would inspire and educate the public. Her northwest Washington, D.C. estate endowed the country with the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, a distinguished eighteenth-century French decorative art collection, and twenty-five acres of serene landscaped gardens and natural woodlands for all to enjoy. Opened as a public institution in 1977, today Hillwood’s allure stems from the equally fascinating parts that make up the whole. From the captivating life of Marjorie Post to the exquisitely maintained mansion and gardens, the experience of Hillwood outshines even the Fabergé Eggs.
About Dance Place
Founded in 1980, Dance Place builds a community of artists, audiences and students through high quality performances, commissions, training and educational programs. We are committed to enriching the field of dance locally, nationally and internationally. Our thriving arts campus serves as an anchor in the development of our Brookland / Edgewood neighborhood in Washington, DC.
