B.L.A.C.K. Speaker Series — Stephanie Hewett

B.L.A.C.K. Speaker Series

Presented by the Mills College Dance and Performance Studies Department and the Office of the Provost.

Movement artist, choreographer, DJ, and music producer Stephanie Hewett, MFA ’17 sits down with host Jazmine Freeman this month to discuss how art and sound can document, convey, and celebrate Black resilience and joy. Originally from the Bronx, New York—formerly the territory of the Indigenous Lenape people—Hewett completed her undergraduate studies in dance from Trinity College before becoming an alum of the Mills College MFA Program in Dance in 2017. Currently, Hewett is in residency with For the Wild, a serial podcast that unearths stories surrounding “land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling.”

Stephanie Hewett is a movement artist, choreographer, DJ, and music producer living in East Oakland. She uses sound to cultivate deeper connections to her Afro-Caribbean lineage through fast, syncopated rhythms rooted in spiritual catharsis and somatic freedom. Her musical research digs into the history of black music focusing primarily on the evolution of Techno, and Palos, the traditional sacred music of the Dominican Republic. She believes the drum is a powerful tool and uses percussion and movement to shape sounds of black resilience, defiance, creativity, liberation, and joy.

B.L.A.C.K. Speaker Series is a monthly online gathering centered on black artistry.

The series, hosted by M.F.A. Candidate Jazmine Freeman, features lively and focused conversations with invited artists, centering on key issues facing Black artists today. Our goal is to come together to engage in thoughtful dialogue with artists about their work and the ways in which their work engages in their blackness.