The School of Theatre and Dance will present an evening with Native American performance artist DeLanna Studi on Tues., Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in Wright-Curtis Theatre, located in the Center for the Performing Arts (1325 Theatre Drive, Kent, OH 44242). Admission to this event is free and no registration or tickets are required.
Organized by School of Theatre and Dance professor Yuko Kurahashi, Ph.D., Studi's presentation is part of Kent State's year-long participation in the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Northeast Ohio, of which Dr. Kurahashi serves as co-chair. The event is hosted by Cynthia Connolly of the Lake Erie Native American Council and is sponsored by Arts Midwest and Â鶹´«Ã½'s School of Theatre and Dance, Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and University Research Council.
Studi will present excerpts from and discuss her 2015 one-person theatre piece, And So We Walked, about her ancestors’ forced removal from their homelands, of Murphy, North Carolina to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears. To create this piece, Studi took a six-week trip with her father Thomas Studi retracing the path her great-great-grandparents were forced to take during their relocation from North Carolina to Oklahoma. In Murphy, North Carolina, both DeLanna and Thomas held workshops and story circles to collect, share, and document their ancestors’ stories and histories. Studi’s And So We Walked includes the multitude of stories that Studi collected. The piece is a dramatic expression of multiple voices of the people who were forced to walk—some perished, and some survived to reach Oklahoma due to the Treaty of New Echota. DeLanna Studi will talk about her journey to create this piece packed with her ancestors’ spirits.
Funding for this event is provided by an Arts Midwest GIG (Grow, Invest, Gather) grant, of which Dr. Kurahashi was the principle investigator.
Watch the Recording of the Event