Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join a dialogue on race relations and social injustice in our community through our RACE RELAY initiative.
WHAT IS RACE RELAY?
Explore the way race shapes our lives and our world with RACE RELAY, an interactive theatrical production. Combining recollections of real personal experiences and projected images from various media, writer-director Denise Hamilton, movement specialist Fred Sugerman, master percussionist Christo Pellani, and a cast of actors will create a dynamic performance based on stories from the NYFA and Burbank community. RACE RELAY is a vulnerable, humorous, and real look at one of the defining aspects of our society and our individual lives.
All members of the NYFA community have an opportunity to put their experiences on the Student and Faculty HUBS, either as a written brief story, painting, photo, or poem, where we can all witness our thoughts and feelings. This is part of a project called RACE RELAY that our Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Council is initiating, and is our way of responding to the need for people to address the inequities that we’ve been witnessing around the country. We’re bringing people together in a series of planned dialogues, in our desire to help us connect with one another.
“Speaking out loud our personal stories . . . is a first step toward healing the many divides that alienate We, the Citizenry, from each other. RACE RELAY gives voice to those stories.”—Candace Carnicelli, Common Peace, Center for the Advancement of Nonviolence
SUBMIT YOUR STORY
RACE RELAY is an interactive multimedia theatre production based on the personal stories of our NYFA and Burbank community members. Our hope is to connect with one another, explore how race shapes our lives, address harms done in our community, and move towards healing.
RACE RELAY starts with the personal decision for each of us to authentically share our stories.
How has racism affected you?
What social injustice have you experienced or witnessed?
Share your experience as a story, photo, poem, monologue, or expression of your choice. Stories submitted by Monday, September 13th will be considered to include in the RACE RELAY production. Visit the RACE RELAY submission page to learn more.
RACE RELAY will be presented November 19-21, 2021 at the Burbank YMCA Social Impact Center in a partnership between NYFA and the Burbank Human Relations Council. We hope you will join our continuing dialogue and thank you in advance for considering sharing your story with the community.
Please contact dei.la@nyfa for any questions or more information.