A Culmination of 7 Years of Seeing and Being Seen
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A Culmination of 7 Years of Seeing and Being Seen *
“Standing Together” is a living conversation — a dance of ancestry, identity, and shared humanity. It invites audiences into an honest and tender space where movement becomes a form of remembering and repair.
the collaboration, portland, 2025.
Developed through seven years of collaboration, Standing Together brings together Jorge Samuel, a Black Brazilian dance specialist, Damaris Webb, a descendant of the American slave trade and Scandinavian immigrants, and Wendy Hambidge, who traces her lineage to early colonial plantation owners.
Through a deeply improvisational and somatic creative process, rooted in the principles of Body-Mind Centering®, the artists explore and unpack their racial and ancestral identities in real time — allowing each performance to emerge as a unique encounter. The work blurs the boundaries between dance, theater, and oral history, creating space for difficult conversations, empathy, and collective healing.
Standing Together was presented at Dekum Street Theater in Portland, Oregon, on September 26–28, 2025, with support from the Ronni S. Lacroute Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and in-kind contributions from Chelsea Petrakis, LeAnne Smith, and Suniti Dernovsek.
Photo credit: Chelsea Petrakis
Presented by: Performance Works NW & Dekum Street Theater
