BROWNBODY

Brownbody: Black Artistry in Minnesota

Grounded in African diasporic perspectives, Brownbody’s work blends dance, theater, an embodied racial consciousness practice, and figure skating to disrupt biased narratives and encourage audiences to engage as active participants in the journey. By engaging Black performers and using these forms of expression to tell stories rooted in Blackness, Brownbody expands the bounds of dance and figure skating while building community.

Brownbody’s mission: We exist to liberate Black artistry through dance, theater, and figure skating.

Brownbody has been building artistic and educational experiences for communities across the metro since 2007. Each year, we strive to:

• Build with the communities we serve by offering Black and Brown communities consistent weekly, free, ongoing skating lessons through our Learn to Skate program.
• Dive deep into our artistic work in the form of residencies and performances.
• Hold community conversations in conjunction with artistic performances and with community partners like the East Side Freedom Library.

Modern dance on ice is a brilliant combination of art and form.”

    -Audience member

“Thank you for creating a piece combining new art forms while speaking of history and memory.  The combination was what was so spectacular and has stayed with me.  I've told many people about the show and how it was so unlike anything I have seen before.”

    -Audience Member

“I didn't realize how much life I would get from seeing Brown folks on skates. I will see those images forever. Familiar beauty and grace in a setting that doesn't usually feel like it's for us.” 

-Audience member

Brownbody relies on community support from partners like you to ensure that its educational programming remains either free or low-cost to the communities we serve, as well as to continue to dive deep into our artistic work. 

What your donation to Brownbody can do:

$15: One lesson for one of our Learn to Skate (LTS) students

$100: One pair of new skates for a LTS student

$220: One hour of ice time for LTS or artistic rehearsals

$515: One full day of ice time for our LTS program

Please donate to support our continued development! 

Thank you for your consideration of Brownbody. We’re working every day to bring arts and education to Black and Brown communities in St. Paul and across the metro.

To join our mailing list: Click here 

To learn about about us:  Click here  

To learn more about our most recent production, Tracing Sacred Steps: Click here

If you’d learn more about our Learn to Skate education program: Click here

To hear more from Brownbody’s Artistic Director, Deneane Richburg, watch this segment about Brownbody from the Twin Cities PBS show MN Original:TPT video: