Are you ready for DSC Festival 2024!
Dancing Grounds (DG) and the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) present the Dance for Social Change (DSC) Rhythms of Recovery.
The 2024 Dance for Social Change (DSC) Festival is a three-day event, led by New Orleans youth, that serves as the culmination of the DSC Teen Company’s year of analyzing how violence impacts young people and the differences between coping and healing from violence. Throughout the week, there will be various wellness resources, movement classes, performances, and more! The DSC Teen Company will also premiere their new multi-disciplinary work, Rhythms of Recovery, that speaks on the ways New Orleans youth envision what healing looks like for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Watch “Common Past Forgotten,” latest film from the DSC Teen Company
2023 DSC Teen Art Exhibition
Jade
“Inner Child,” 2023, acrylic on canvas, 16x20
Ken That Artist
”Men Are Human Too,” 20x26x2
Artist Statement: Men Are Human Too is a painting capturing the conversation to liberate Black men from toxic masculinity. I believe toxic masculinity plays a huge part in the emotions of men and boys in the black community. This can lead to acts of violence through pent up emotions like anger or sadness that can lead to harmful acts to themselves or others. Making space that allows black men and boys to feel their emotions without feeling weak can help prevent this future violence. After all, men are human too and deal with struggles they don’t know how to deal with.
Tae Dream
”The Story Of Reality,” poem
Artist Statement: I have so many things to say but are too young for people to take me seriously. My writing is a way to say everything I have to say even if not everyone agrees. At least I have said what is in my head.
Jade
“Target,” 2022, oil on canvas, 24x30
Artist Statement: This is meant to serve as social and political commentary on the systematic corruption within the American criminal justice system, which often wrongfully targets black men, and the impact this has on future generations.
Lauren Klebba
”Panicked,” 2023, acrylic sheet print on paper, 9x12
Artist Statement: I believe childhood should be a happy time for growth and development, not years that lead to trauma or fear.