Tag: aunjanue ellis

After a successful world premiere at Jacob’s Pillow last summer, Camille A. Brown & Dancers brought their latest work, I AM, to L.A.’s Music Center for three nights this past weekend. It’s part of their mini-tour with stops at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey (Sept. 26), followed by dates in Boston (Nov. 14-15) and then Seattle (March 7, 2026).

The new show uses her previous show, ink, as a jumping-off point. “In that one, I was talking about the idea of Black people being superheroes, because we keep rising,” Brown tells Observer. “The idea of perseverance and the celebration of onward movement, regardless of obstacles; I wanted to discuss what it is like to move through the future with joy. I wanted this to be an experience where we’re starting at joy from the top, then where do we go? I have fifty minutes’ worth of where we go. What does it mean to start with joy, and what does that look like with their individual bodies, and as a community, brought together?”

The piece draws its title and inspiration from episode 7 of the HBO series Lovecraft Country, in which the character Hippolyta Freeman (played by Aunjanue Ellis) moves through time and space, visiting different eras and drawing personal insight, joy and strength through her experience.

“I thought that was so powerful and spoke to me, personally, as a Black woman, and what I have to navigate in the world,” says Brown. “I wanted us to feel we have pushed out of these four walls, the black, the space, the universe. The solo, which I created for myself, depicts the story, and my interpretation of Hippolyta’s journey and my journey as an artist. Each section is another form of spirit and joy and love and community. And it’s shown through different ways, through brotherhood, through sisterhood, through funk and R&B, the ballroom, the church, hip-hop, African dance, everywhere we can possibly go.”

Brown won’t be dancing the solo in this iteration of the show. That honor falls to Courtney Ross, an independent contractor with the company since 2019. “While the piece is created on her and debuted by her, the story is human enough to be transferred into what I can bring to the table,” says Ross about taking over the role from Brown. “Within the solo, there is a sense of reclamation, which is something Hippolyta is going through in her journey. So, there are moments where I’m reaching for a higher place. It’s leaning more and more into my joy, and there’s the thing that becomes the strength. Camille went to Ailey, where you’re heavily trained in ballet, modern technique and jazz. We have to bring all of those technical elements into the space.”

Originally from Jamaica, Queens, Brown studied at The Ailey School on a scholarship, while also studying at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts. Her early career was spent at Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, A Dance Company, and she was a guest artist at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater before founding Camille A. Brown & Dancers in 2006.

Her work on playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy led to her first Tony nomination for Best Choreography. Her directorial debut, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, garnered two more, for Best Choreography and Best Direction. Her fourth Tony nomination came for Alicia Keys’ jukebox musical Hell’s Kitchen, followed by another last year for Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald. At the Met, she worked on Porgy and Bess as well as Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

“In the shows that I’ve worked with, everyone has to do everything,” says Brown. “If it’s not a dance focus role, maybe they don’t have as much to carry as a trained dancer in the show. In Hell’s Kitchen, the dancers had to be dancers in the space. With Gypsy, dancers had to sing, dance and act. So, it depends on the requirements of the show.”

Ross confirms that working with Brown requires multi-disciplined training. “We are very well rehearsed. Once you get into the choreography, Camille is very detailed. With the solo, I have a bit more freedom because the solo is about freedom. So, I have agency. I love this work, I AM, my family loves the work and the community loves this work. I’m excited to continue sharing and hearing the response.”

In recent months, Black voices have been targeted by government-backed anti-DEI measures in arts and educational institutions. “If I were to isolate and look at the news, it can be a lot,” Ross says. “It’s an intentional choice to be a Black woman from the African diaspora and say, ‘I’m going to step on stage and tell these very loud and proud stories.’”

By continuing to do what she does, Brown is committed to speaking truth to power. “It’s scary; I don’t want to negate the fear aspect of it, at all. Hopefully, it inspires us all to have conviction,” she says of the crisis. “If we start censoring ourselves and start doing these things to get a grant or a performance, then is it really our art that we’re making, or does it turn into something else? In order for me to continue in this world, I need to focus on my work.”

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