grounding
grounding responds to sites and monuments representing the Civil Rights movement to enliven the histories, reflect the struggles and strides, and animate our hearts and bodies into action.
Conceived by Miguel Vazquez, FAICP and GROUND SERIES co-director Brittany Delany, the site-specific work is choreographed and performed by Brittany Delany in collaboration with Riverside dancers Ana Cruz, Crystal Edwards, Edwin Sigüenza and Aisha Stewart.
Set for Monday, September 30, 2024 at 4:15PM, the performance will emerge outdoors at the Riverside Main Public Library, across from the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California. The ensemble dance will emphasize social dance, improvisation, collective joy and resilience.
How can dance
illuminate sites and monuments representing the Civil Rights
movement?
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CONCEIVED by Miguel Vazquez, FAICP and Brittany Delany
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CHOREOGRAPHED & DIRECTED by Brittany Delany
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CHOREOGRAPHED & PERFORMED by Ana Cruz, Brittany Delany, Crystal Edwards, Edwin Sigüenza, Aisha Stewart
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MUSIC by Malik Mayne
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CREATED with/for the American Planning Association California Chapter Annual Conference, Arts & Planning Division of the American Planning Association, Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California.
grounding collaborator bios
ANA ISELA RAMOS CRUZ, Dancer, is a first generation artist, dance maker and performer. Born in the United states yet raised in Guadalajara Jalisco. She has obtained an AA in dance and a certification in fine & performing arts at Riverside Community College. Her training includes Ballet, Jazz, Hip hop, Modern, social dance and Folklorico. She has collaborated and performed with Leyenda Ballet Folklorico, Calliopus Com-temporary Modern Dance and currently Limónadas. Ana is looking forward to continuing her studies and hoping to acquire a B.A in dance. She believes that “It doesn’t matter how long it takes you as long as you get there.”
BRITTANY DELANY, Choreographer, Director, Dancer, Producer, is an artist born in Boston, Massachusetts and based in Southern California. Dance helps her make sense of the world, transform ideas into action, and grow as a listener, healer, artist and friend. She earned her B.A. in Dance from Wesleyan University and has performed with many dance companies and artists including Pedro Alejandro, Sarah Ashkin, Funkanometry, Mary Sano and Unyted Stylz. She is co-director of GROUND SERIES dance & social justice collective and a founding member of Wyld Womxn, an intersectional feminist arts collective. She values the power of imagination and teamwork. Delany is the Secretary and founding member of the American Planning Association’s Arts and Planning Division. brittanydelany.weebly.com.
CRYSTAL RENEE EDWARDS, Dancer, is a Dancer/Choreographer/Photographer/ Filmmaker/ Musician, who started dancing in 2009 at A.B. Miller HS, in Fontana, CA, training in multiple styles of dance. After graduating in 2013, she went on to study dance at Riverside City College from 2013 until 2020, where she created work and trained. Since college she has been involved in various dance tropes, one being an all women drum and dance group, Tropecaliza based in Riverside, where they combine dance while simultaneously playing drums and other instruments. She has performed with Tropecaliza many times, including the debut full length show called “She Her Us”, where Edwards was able to showcase her singing, musical skills, as well as being a soloist. Edwards was rewarded a mentorship to produce and premiere her dance film “To my future-self” at the Screenfest Film festival held by Place performance, a nonprofit located in Riverside, Ca. Edwards continues to dance and create work inspired by her life experiences.
ASHER EMMANUEL, Video Documentation and Editing, is a director/writer living in Los Angeles. He has worked on short films, feature documentaries, television and branded content. He identifies the afflictions which all human beings encounter and then traces the unique and ofter surprising ways in which they can dramatically unfold. Nominated for two editorial Emmy’s for work on the Migrant Kitchen series. asheredits.com/
EDWIN ANTONIO SIGÜENZA, Dancer, is a performer, choreographer, and educator from the Inland Empire. Edwin is of Salvadoran descent and his research interests explore illuminating the Salvadoran experience through the topics of Migration, Displacement, and Brown Queer Identity. Through the lens of movement, theater, make-up, photography, and drag, he is able to further his inquiry of making the invisible visible. He has worked with Sue Roginski in the In/Visible, Un/Heard stories of Riverside Civil Rights Stories, through commission of the Riverside Museum on two occasions, and is thrilled to further nurture and develop such important work. A seasoned dance educator serving K-12 students across southern California, Edwin earned his California Teaching Credential from California State University East Bay and is a recipient of the Luna Dance Summer Institute 2024-2025 cohort, a National Endowment for the Arts funded project that supports Dance teaching & Learning Studies through Professional Learning (lunadancecreativity.org). He teaches in the Fontana Unified School District and is currently working with Pennington Dance Group, a nonprofit modern dance company based in Pasadena, CA. Furthermore, he holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California Riverside in Dance and Theater. If you would like to connect and follow his journey, follow him on Instagram @edwinsigdances and @esigu.
AISHA STEWART, Dancer, is a dance artist and emerging dance educator. She found her love for dance at the young age of 5 at Terpsichore Dance Studio in Los Angeles, then at Shula's Dancehouse in Fontana at 9 years old. It was not until high school that she would find her passion for dance again. Aisha expanded her repertoire by exploring various dance styles such as Hip Hop, Contemporary, Jazz, and Ballet. This was through the A.B. Miller Conservatory Dance Program in Fontana. After high school she went on to further her training at Riverside City College as a dance and social behavior science major. In the far future, Aisha hopes to open a safe space to teach dance to kids. She wants to give them a great foundation and even better opportunities than the ones provided to her.
MIGUEL VAZQUEZ, FAICP, Instigator is an award-winning planner with 20+ years of experience in the public, private, and military sectors. As a planning and health integration expert at RUHS-Public Health, Miguel partners with diverse stakeholders to advance planning’s impact on health. His recognitions include the 2018 American Planning Association (APA) President’s Award, the 2020 APA California Distinguished Contribution Award, and the 2021 Dale Prize from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He was inducted in 2024 into the AICP College of Fellows, the highest honor the American Institute of Certified Planners bestows upon a member. Miguel is a founding member and immediate-past Chair of the American Planning Association’s Arts and Planning Division. Miguel holds a bachelor’s in Urban Studies and Planning from California State University, Northridge, and is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow. mavurbanplanning.com
DEEP GRATITUDE TO OUR CONSULTANTS ON THIS WORK:
Ken Gutierrez, Sue Roginski
accountability practice + partners
GROUND SERIES is committed to developing deep, ongoing relationships with our accountability partners, students, audience members, and site stewards. While developing this work, Brittany researched historic activations and creative projects in response to these sites and monuments, locally engaged organizations and local dance artists to cultivate respect, healthy relationships and resource-sharing. Below are a few organizations whose work we admire and to whom we wish to be accountable.
land acknowledgement
GROUND SERIES lifts up the land acknowledgment of the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California: We at the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California would like to respectfully acknowledge and recognize the responsibility to the original and current caretakers of this land, water, and air; the Cahuilla, Tongva, Luiseño, and Serrano peoples and all of their ancestors and descendants, past, present, and future.
This meeting place is home to many Indigenous peoples from all over the world, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work in these homelands.