Black History Future Folk Symposium: Dunham & the Diaspora
Friday, April 17, 2026, 18:00 -
Friday, April 17, 2026, 20:30
Event duration 2 hours
FREE RSVP:
USD 0.00
About Black History Future Folk Symposium: Dunham & the Diaspora
A FREE 2-day Chicago symposium celebrating Katherine Dunham & the Diaspora through a keynote address, performances, panels & workshops!!
Old Town School of Folk Music is hosting its 3rd annual Black History Future Folk Symposium. Produced by our Community Ventures Department, each year this symposium draws inspiration from the definition of folk music provided by Folk Alliance International: “Folk is the music of the people, reflective of any community where they are from.” The theme for 2026 is Katherine Dunham and the African Diaspora.
Focusing on the prolific Chicago legacy of Katherine Dunham, this free two-day Symposium will invite participants of all ages to participate in open, accessible, and rigorous discussions about the intersections of Black history, liberated futures, and folk practices. Through presentations, panel discussions, participatory workshops, and performances, 2026’s Symposium will cultivate fertile ground for deep theoretical and embodied understandings of afro-diasporic dance and music.
SCHEDULE
Friday, April 17, 2026 • 6:00 - 8:30 PM
📍 Old Town School Lincoln Square Campus – Myron R. Szold Concert Hall | 4545 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60625
6:00–7:15 PM • Opening Keynote Speaker: Heather Beal
7:30–8:30 PM • Dunham from Haiti to New Orleans Opening Performance: Featuring Tamboula & the Windy City Ramblers with choreography by Stacy “Jukeboxx” Letrice & Daniel Desir
Events Schedule
Friday, April 17, 2026, 18:00
Friday, April 17, 2026, 20:30
Event Categories
Educational Events
Creatives & Performing Art Events
Community Connections
Music Moves Chicago
https://www.oldtownschool.org/musicmoves/
4544 North Lincoln Avenue
Music Moves Chicago (MMC) is a place-based, youth-focused, intergenerational initiative that aims to inspire, restore, and transform communities by providing access to high quality arts education, concerts, and workforce readiness through partnerships with community organizations, schools, and other institutions located in South and West side neighborhoods. Goals & Objectives To provide arts-based classes, workshops, learning experiences and performances in Chicago communities with the greatest need. Build the capacity of teaching artists to teach in the framework of trauma and community action. Mentor and train the next generation of arts and wellness leaders, Arts Activators, in artistic practice with trauma-informed pedagogical framework. Apply best arts and healing practices, including developing new curricular frameworks with specific intention of healing individuals and communities. Mentor organizations that desire arts and healing practice in their programs, thereby building capacity to sustainably provide for their constituents. Develop a research framework that continually investigates practice and leads the arts and wellness field. Produce an annual Institute that provides training, networking and visibility opportunities.