Gesel Mason
Identifier
00002Gesel R. Mason is Artistic Director of Gesel Mason Performance Projects and Associate Professor at UT Austin. As a choreographer, performer, and artist scholar, she uses dance and performance as a vehicle to examine the human condition and challenge the status quo. She was a member of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Ralph Lemon/Cross Performance Projects.
Mason is committed to supporting and uplifting the contributions of African American artists and communities. Curated and performed by Mason, her solo project, “NO BOUNDARIES: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers,” celebrates the work and legacies of ten choreographers: Kyle Abraham, Robert Battle, Rennie Harris, Dianne McIntyre, Donald McKayle, Bebe Miller, David Rousséve, Reggie Wilson, Andrea E. Woods Valdés, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. In 2020, in collaboration with Rebecca Salzer of Dancing Digital, the “No Boundaries Archive Project” was awarded a NEH Digital Humanities Advancement grant to support its evolution into an interactive, sustainable, and accessible archive.
Mason utilizes dance, theater, humor, and storytelling to bring visibility to voices unheard, situations neglected, or perspectives deemed taboo. Her current choreographic project Yes, And asks, “Who would you be and what would you do if, as a Black woman, you had nothing to worry about?” Yes, And is supported by National Performance Network and New England Foundation for the Arts. It premiered at the Fusebox Festival in Austin, TX, and with Dance Place in Washington, DC in 2022.
A 2019 Rauschenburg Artist in Residence, Mason’s work has been presented by Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and the International Association of Blacks in Dance.
Source: https://www.geselmason.com/gesel-mason
Mason is committed to supporting and uplifting the contributions of African American artists and communities. Curated and performed by Mason, her solo project, “NO BOUNDARIES: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers,” celebrates the work and legacies of ten choreographers: Kyle Abraham, Robert Battle, Rennie Harris, Dianne McIntyre, Donald McKayle, Bebe Miller, David Rousséve, Reggie Wilson, Andrea E. Woods Valdés, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. In 2020, in collaboration with Rebecca Salzer of Dancing Digital, the “No Boundaries Archive Project” was awarded a NEH Digital Humanities Advancement grant to support its evolution into an interactive, sustainable, and accessible archive.
Mason utilizes dance, theater, humor, and storytelling to bring visibility to voices unheard, situations neglected, or perspectives deemed taboo. Her current choreographic project Yes, And asks, “Who would you be and what would you do if, as a Black woman, you had nothing to worry about?” Yes, And is supported by National Performance Network and New England Foundation for the Arts. It premiered at the Fusebox Festival in Austin, TX, and with Dance Place in Washington, DC in 2022.
A 2019 Rauschenburg Artist in Residence, Mason’s work has been presented by Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and the International Association of Blacks in Dance.
Source: https://www.geselmason.com/gesel-mason
