Suchi Branfman has been collecting COVID-19 data from California prisons since the beginning of the pandemic. Now those numbers have culminated in a show.
Santa
Calif.
My solo starts off with my arms out-stretched towards the sky, trying to touch the rafters, stretching on tip-toe, reaching, head up to the sky.
Terry Sakamoto Jr., is describing a dance he calls “The Mountain.” He wrote the choreography from his bunk while in Covid lockdown last spring at the California Rehabilitation Center, a medium-security men’s prison located in Norco, Calif., about 65 miles from my home.
Before March 2020, when the state prison system shut down all programming and visitation due to the coronavirus, Terry was among the folks inside the prison with whom I had the remarkable opportunity to dance, make dance, and converse every Monday night for years. The project, called Dancing Through Prison Walls, began in December of 2016. The work took many forms, whether teaching credit-bearing college courses or Rehabilitative Achievement Credit workshops, collaborating on choreographies, bringing in guest artists, or simply spending hours dancing wi
“Undanced Dances” showcases written choreography of incarcerated individuals
Apr. 14, 2021 at 6:00 am
Dance: Local artists interpret prisoners’ written choreography as recorded dance performances. Suchi Branfman
When the pandemic hit prisoners’ already limited freedom became even more constricted, but through a unique film initiative, Suchi Branfman has brought the imagined dances of incarcerated individuals to life.
Due to Covid-19 inmates have been isolated in their dorms and lost all access to group programming. Branfman, who previously taught dance inside a Norco state prison, realized that even under these new restrictions incarcerated individuals could still write down dances.
Her project, entitled “Undanced Dances Through Prison Walls During a Pandemic”, features 11 professional artists enacting dances written by prisoners in the California Rehabilitation Center. On April 16 at 6:30 p.m., these performances will be screened over Zoom and narrated by formerly i
March 11, 2021 in Columns, Opinion
The USC Suzanne Dworack-Peck School of Social Work repealed the question asking prospective doctoral applicants to disclose previous felonies.
In a criminal justice system that handles trauma with punishment, it can be hard to break out of stigma and rebuild a life. With incarceration itself being very traumatic, there are already so many people in prison incarcerated at a very young age or who have previously experienced unstable living situations.
Post conviction, formerly incarcerated individuals can face a multitude of challenges such as difficulty landing internships or job opportunities, finding suitable housing and continuing their education. All of these factors can be linked to one question that many people have overlooked if it did not apply to them: