Wanda's Picks Radio Show

Zaccho Dance Theatre and Bayview Opera House Inc. present:Flying to Freedom: Celebrating Juneteenth through Aerial Dance, Music, and Theater, a collective reflection on liberation created and performed by Bay Area music, theater, dance and aerial artists and curated by Joanna Haigood. Performances are at 8 pm on Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17.  Tickets are $10-$35.  To purchase tickets, go https://flyingtofreedom.eventbrite.com We speak to Joanna Haigood, Veronica Blair and Steven Anthony Jones.  

Juneteenth is a national holiday that celebrates the day (June 19, 1865) that the last enslaved people in Texas were informed of their emancipation, two years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.  It became a national holiday in 2021.  

Each artists’ contribution is unique.  For example, theater artist Steven Anthony Jones’ work Flying to Freedom examines the accounts of African Americans who were told stories of Black People who literally flew away to freedom. He explains, “I'll look at accounts that were heard by children and adults and I will draw on prose and poetry writing about ‘negroes who flew away.’” 

Aerialist Veronica Blair’s contribution is Thank You, Forgiveness!, an aerial silks performance exploring the unpacking of trauma created to heal people in a public space. “One of the most important components of liberation is healing,” she explains. “Having lived through generations of perpetual harm and rejection, we as Black people undoubtedly carry our stories and traumas in our bodies.”