Rebecca Nichloson

SUBMERGED Pt. 1

Libretto, vocal arrangement, performer: Rebecca Nichloson

Cello composition: C.B. James

Adapted from a short story by Nichloson, this 15-minute opera centers on a Black woman in the underworld. She remembers a past life as a girl named Sarai from a small Black rural town called Glory Hill. SUBMERGED Pt. 1 is an exploration of grief, loss, and enduring love.

Rebecca Nichloson is a playwright, creative writer, and singer/songwriter. She is the author of numerous creative works, including Dear America (libretto & vocals), Mara, Queen of the World (an acapella musical), and The Wild, Bold Enlightenment of Velvet the Mistress, among others. She holds a MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University and an MA in English Literature. She was also the recipient of a 2019 Commission from the Cedar Cultural Center for which she created Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss, & Triumph (a three-part collection of songs exploring her Black heritage and passion for genre-eclectic music) and received a 2020 honorable mention from the McKnight Foundation (Spoken Word). In addition, she is the recipient of the Liberace Award, the Howard Stein Fellowship, The Matthew’s Fellowship, an America-in-Play Fellowship and a Many Voices Fellowship from the Minneapolis Playwrights Center (2008-2009). She is also artistic director of Cleveland-Harris Theatre Company. Learn more at www.rebeccanichloson.com.

Sam Aros-Mitchell

Ania Bwia Bwia Toochia

In Ania Bwia Bwia Toochia, Aros-Mitchell reflects on the connection between the Southwest, his body, and his ancestors. Invoking sound and movement, the piece explores the human relationship to the natural worlds, or aniam. By bringing awareness to these aniam, the work calls attention to the fact that Indigenous peoples are guardians of 80% of the world’s biodiversity, and the critical response of listening to Indigenous voices, artistic and otherwise, to be in a good relationship with the natural world. 

Sam Aros-Mitchell (he/him/his) is an enrolled member of the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians. As an art-maker, dancer, and scholar, Aros-Mitchell’s work spans the disciplines of performance, sound/light/scenic design, choreography, and embodied writing. In 2020, he relocated to Mni Sota Makoce and was among the first cohort of Native artist fellows at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to serve as Native Directing Fellow. As an actor, Aros-Mitchell has performed with Toot Performance in the film The Premise of Gripping the Wall When You’re Upset. Aros-Mitchell has been a core member of Rosy Simas Danse since 2017 as a performer, teacher, and community engagement organizer. He is a writer with articles in academic and art publications such as Native American Research Journal, Dance Research Journal, and Mn Artists. Aros-Mitchell’sabstract, “José Limón, The Unsung and Yoeme Syncretism” was recently accepted for publication in a book that celebrates José Limón's legacy, titled Transcending Amerincaness. In 2018, he founded Aros and Son Publishing, dedicated to publishing the work of Native writers. Aros-Mitchell holds a Ph.D. in Drama and Theater from the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego/UC Irvine, an MFA in Dance Theatre from UC San Diego, and a BFA from UC Santa Barbara. Currently, Aros-Mitchell is a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University, at the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands, where he teaches and develops speaker-series to engage Indigenous artists and community. www.samarosmitchell.com 

Atim Opoka

Bloom when you outta bloom: The roots

This multidisciplinary work reflects on the experience of growing up as a Black immigrant in America through the lens of abstract worlds, stories, and music. Join Atim on a journey of healing, trauma, pain, grief, triumph, Black joy, and self-love that speaks from the heart to the inner child. 

Atim Opoka is a Ugandan-American songwriter, vocalist, composer, producer and teaching artist who fuses afro-pop and alternative beats while embracing the power of transformative storytelling. She is most recently a 2023 Jerome Hill Fellow, a 2021 recipient of a Waters Grant, as well as an Our Space is Spoken For Fellowship from the Twin Cities Media Alliance. Opoka has performed original works at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival and Powderhorn Park Festival. She has a BA in Vocal Performance from McNally Smith College of Music. www.atimopoka.com

Margaret Ogas

NIGHTQUAKES (a prelude)

Performers: Libby Herrmann, Ayaka Moriyama, Margaret Ogas

Mask Artist: Sofía Padilla

Nightquakes is a continuation of an ongoing journey into the dream realm, in which a trio of performers encounter dark absurdities, ghostly messengers, and sparkling catharsis. What fears, regrets, and hopes can be filtered through the subconscious? Can you apologize to your ancestors while paralyzed in slumber? 

Margaret Ogas is a choreographer, performer, and teaching artist based in the Twin Cities. Using an interdisciplinary approach rooted in dance and informed by Chicana cultural sensibilities, her works tell surreal everyday stories through a collage of movement, text, and sound. Ogas’s choreography has been presented by the Walker Art Center, Candy Box Dance Festival, Center for Performing Arts, FD13, Mizna, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, and others. She is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow (2023-2025) and was a 2021 Naked Stages Fellow at Pillsbury House + Theatre. Margaret is a core collaborator and performer with the Taja Will Ensemble. She is currently a youth instructor at Young Dance. She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota. Learn more at margaretogas.com.