Here/Now: Built by Black Dancers, for Everyone

Here/Now is a curated, multigenre performance and leadership development initiative led by UCSB dance major Kennadi Davis. The project features four original works spanning contemporary, street jazz, and heels, with solos, duets, and large group numbers all choreographed by Black dancers.

Davis, who currently represents one of only five Black dancers in the dance major at UCSB, created Here/Now as a direct response to the isolation that can come with that hypervisibility. The evening centers Black artistry and experience while building toward something larger than a single performance. The initiative also functions as a leadership incubator, providing production experience and creative ownership to Black students who are underrepresented on UCSB’s campus.

The performance takes place Friday May 8 at 7:30PM (doors at 7:00PM) in UCSB’s Humanities and Social Sciences Bulding (Room 1115). Here/Now is entirely donation-based, with all proceeds split between four organizations: the End Homelessness Fund, Direct Relief for Hawaii, the Middle East Children’s Alliance, and the 805 Undocu Fund.