LaDonna Smith and Susan Hefner / John English and Kris Gruda

First Set: John English and Kris Gruda
Second Set: LaDonna Smith and Susan Hefner
Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 7 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {120 College Street}
TICKETS – $12 General Admission / $8 for BMCM+AC members + Students w/ID

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center presents LaDonna Smith and Susan Hefner / John English and Kris Gruda.

LaDonna Smith and Susan Hefner

LaDonna Smith and Susan Hefner have a long relationship of working together in creative collaborations. Beginning in 1976, Susan was part of a dance group of young improvisers who collaborated in one of the earliest TransMuseq concerts. She was only 16 years old at the time! Embarking on a career in dance & improvisation she worked with the Alwin Nicolais Dance Theater. She was Director/choreographer of Susan Hefner and Dancers as well as continual improvisatory explorations with LaDonna Smith and Davey Williams TransMuseq projects in Alabama as well as projects & improvisers in the Brooklyn-NYC scene. Significantly, she co-created performance art with percussionist Michael Evans and currently is curator of her Susan’s Salons in both Birmingham and Brooklyn.

Her work often grows from visual wit and ironic images, intended to deliver an irreverent message of freedom while lampooning societal rigidities. Zany images are brought to life through a feminist lens, and the dance language is drawn from physical manifestations of human emotions. Through a process of improvisation and revision she seeks a range of authentic expression, human and vulnerable. Susan and LaDonna will come together for one of a kind collaborative performance at BMCM+AC.

John English and Kris Gruda

John English is an improviser and photographer from Black Mountain, North Carolina. Kris Gruda is an avant-garde guitarist, sound experimenter, and songwriter based in western North Carolina. He plays in solo and group contexts on electric or acoustic with or without electronics. His guitar-in-car album, Kris Gruda Plays for You, was released on Palilalia Records in 2023. FreeJazzRockSoulNoise.etc.

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