The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance will tour several locations throughout Wyoming with “Six Songs from Ellis,” an original work that captures the voices of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island in one of the greatest human migrations of all time.
Choreographed and directed by UW dance faculty member Marsha Knight and co-directed by Leigh Selting, “Six Songs from Ellis” is a multi-media dance-theatre work that centers on the oral histories of the immigrants and refugees who passed through Ellis Island. Millions of immigrants and their stories entered the United States through the gates of Ellis Island during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, over 40% of Americans can trace their ancestry to this period of relatively open immigration through New York’s harbor.
The piece was conceived by Knight, who was so affected by the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in 1990 that she began to consider the possibility of creating a work about the immigrant experience, and to conduct research in earnest at the Oral History Museum at Ellis Island, which alone houses over 2000 oral histories.
A seminal production was presented in 2009, which explored how immigration and refugee crisis are as critical topics now as they were 100 years ago, and how attitudes toward access and response to need and crisis can benefit from stories – inspiring, cautionary, and human – of those who helped to build this country.
Knight’s subsequent extensive research, in particular during a recent year-long sabbatical, of approximately 500 oral histories has resulted in a broader glimpse into the sea of possibilities for this piece, with 88 individuals being represented to date.
Friday May 25, 2018
May 24th 7:30PM
Western Wyoming Community College Theater
Free
Marsha Knight
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