Al Hirschfeld Foundation Presents AMPLIFIED DIGNITY Online Exhibition Celebrating Black History Month

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation is celebrating Black History Month with its latest online exhibition, Amplified Dignity: Black Dancers Drawn by Hirschfeld. Now live at AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/exhibitions though March 13, the exhibition features Hirschfeld's reflections of legendary 20th Century artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Josephine Baker, Nicholas Brothers, Bunny Briggs, Judith Jamison, Hinton Battle, Maurice Hines, and Honi Coles.

"To be rendered by Hirschfeld is to be immortalized in the fraternity of American popular art," says dance educator, choreographer and dramaturg Melanie George, who has curated Amplified Dignity. "These drawings encapsulate a history of individual and collective opportunity and excellence, as well as disenfranchisement and marginalization. The exhibit contains a mix of well and lesser-known artists, and nameless groups of dancers, who have contributed to the history of dance in America. The images demonstrate reverence for the people and art of New York, especially during the Harlem Renaissance era. The intent is to place these dancers at the center of the cannon, not on the margins. A rightful place, as the foundation and evolution of dance in America is intertwined and indebted to innovation and performances by Black people in America."

Amplified Dignity is the latest exhibition in The Al Hirschfeld Foundation's Black Art Matters series. Having launched last summer with Lost in the Stars: Black Theater Makers Drawn By Hirschfeld, upcoming exhibits in the series will celebrate black film artists and musicians, and the 80th anniversary of the artist's iconic representations of the African-American experience in the 1930's Harlem As Seen By Hirschfeld.,

Go behind the lines of Hirschfeld's art with "The Hirschfeld Century Podcast," nominated as "Best NYC podcast" by the 2020 Apple Awards. A special episode dedicated to the works featured Amplified Dignity: Black Dancers Drawn by Hirschfeld will be available starting February 2, 2021 from AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/podcasts, iTunes and other popular podcast sites.

ABOUT CURATOR MELANIE GEORGE

Melanie George is a dance educator, choreographer, scholar, and dramaturg. She is the founder and director of Jazz Is... Dance Project and an Associate Curator and Scholar-In-Residence at Jacob's Pillow. As a dramaturg, she has contributed to projects by David Neumann & Marcella Murray (on the Obie Award winning Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed), Raja Feather Kelly, Ephrat Asherie, Susan Marshall & Company, Machine Dazzle, and Urban Bush Women among others. A highly sought after teacher and choreographer of the neo-jazz aesthetic, Melanie is a featured in the documentary UpRooted: The Journey of Jazz, Dance. Melanie has presented her research on jazz improvisation and pedagogy throughout the U.S., in Canada and Scotland, and founded the global advocacy website jazzdancedirect.com. She is the former Dance Program Director at American University, and has guest lectured at Harvard University, the Yale School of Drama, and The Juilliard School, among others.

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