Episode Notes

Deneane Richburg is the founder and artistic director of Brownbody, a Minnesota-based performing arts organization whose motto is “skate truth to power”.

Brownbody “affirms the complexity, beauty, vulnerability, strength, resilience, fatigue, fear, honesty, humility, and magic that have and continue to characterize historic and contemporary journeys of so many US-based Black communities. It accomplishes this through our donation-based learn to skate lessons, community-based dialogues and interactive workshops, and boundary-breaking artistic work that blends multiple artistic genres, including figure skating, modern dance, social justice practice, theater, and live and recorded soundscapes.”

Deneane was a competitive figure skater, and growing up, she often felt she had to leave her Blackness outside the rink. She received her MFA in dance and choreography from Temple University, an MA in Afro-American studies from UW Madison, and a BA in English and African American Studies from Carleton College. Deneane has danced with a number of prominent companies, and with Lela Aisha Jones, co-founded The Requisite Movers, a Philadelphia-based program that supports the work of Black women choreographers.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rMM73iG9cmsTtP1BY4ZRMMfsUAn3jhiE6TbDETCTHhw/edit?tab=t.0

YouTube: https://youtu.be/T8v9VB6iji4

You can learn more about Brownbody’s programs on their website, www.brownbody.org Or on Instagram @ movingbrownbody

Minnesota Public Broadcasting documentary about Brownbody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg2p4mBUK5I&pp=ygURYnJvd25ib2R5IHNrYXRpbmc%3D

Interview about Tracing Sacred Steps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J8rcT5qmDg&pp=ygURYnJvd25ib2R5IHNrYXRpbmc%3D

Thanks to Ivan Daniluk for editing. You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at [email protected], Instagram at @futurefspodcast, or at futureoffs.bsky.com If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating