Jamison Curcio and Shanice Mason are co-conspirators, time travelers, and architects who are committed to durational experiences, experimental usages of space, audience responsibility, and community care. As Local Dance Commissioning Project Awardees, they will present a new work entitled I have a secret to tell you…, an invitation to discover, reframe, and practice being in community with Black women and femmes. The experience serves as a guide on how to hold this community in everyday practice and in the world—a world that everyone has benefited from.

Created to foster new dance works by local artists and to present these artists to the widest possible audience, the annual Local Dance Commissioning Project provides funds and support for each artist to choreograph and premiere a new work.

“The dance programming team has a value system of championing dance artists and companies that are local to the DMV area (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia). Through our Local Dance Commissioning Project (LDCP) application process, our team, along with local and national panelists, selected Jamison Curcio and Shanice Mason to present their commissioned work in the Kennedy Center’s Theater Lab. These artists have been active in the D.C. dance community for many years—as performers, dance makers, educators, administrators, and community visionaries. While their artistry is noteworthy, what spoke to our LDCP panel the most was their desire to carve pathways of celebration, convening, and connection for Black women and femmes throughout the award period. We look forward to being in community with and supporting Curcio and Mason this season—to shed light on the work they have been cultivating in the DMV for years.”

—Malik Burnett, Kennedy Center assistant manager of dance programming