kNOwBOX dance Film Festival 2020
Official Selection Filmmaker Spotlight
Black Stains by Tiffany Rhynard & Trent D. Williams, Jr.
13:28
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Part dance film, part documentary, “Black Stains” depicts the reality of living while black in the United States and persistently asks the question: why do we not see black men as human?
TIFFANY RHYNARD DIRECTOR / CINEMATOGRAPHER / PRODUCER Tiffany Rhynard is a dancer and filmmaker making work that examines social justice issues. Rhynard’s award winning documentary, Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America, received a 2018 Television Academy Honor for its airing on LogoTV in partnership by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Forbidden was awarded the first Social Justice Film Award from the Southern Poverty Law Center, received the Freedom Award from Outfest, was featured on American Airlines during their 2017 Pride campaign, and is now currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Rhynard’s dance films have screened at festivals nationwide includingScreenDance Miami where she was awarded the Jury Prize for Invisible Queens (2015) and for Black Stains (2018). A cross-disciplinary artist, she has worked with esteemed collaborators including choreographer Christal Brown, internationally renowned composer Lei Liang, real-time digital media artist Marlon Barrios Solano, and mezzo-soprano Sahoko Sato Timpone. Rhynard holds a B.A. in Dance from UNC Greensboro, and an M.F.A. in Choreography from The Ohio State University. She has taught at colleges and universities throughout the country including SUNY Potsdam, Middlebury College, and University of Florida. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Dance at Florida State University.
TRENT D. WILLIAMS, JR.
CHOREOGRAPHER / PRODUCER
Trent D. Williams, Jr. a native Houstonian received his MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from The Florida State University and BA in Psychology from Morehouse College. Mr. Williams was a founding member of Urban Souls Dance Company in Houston, Texas and he has been a guest artist with Tallahassee Ballet in Tallahassee, FL, and EDGEWORKS Dance Theatre in Washington, DC. While at Morehouse College, he worked with choreographers such as Nicole Wesley, Jhon strokes, Ivan Pulinkala, Darla Johnson and Wayne Smith as a member of the Spelman Dance Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Williams has performed alongside Destiny’s Child, 112, and Janelle Monae among others. In 2007, Mr. Williams was invited to dance with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) in world-renowned works by Talley Beatty, The Stack Up (1992) and Eleo Pomare, Las Desenamoradas (1987), Donald Byrd, Rodney A. Brown, William B. McClellan, Jr., Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Shonna Hickman-Matlock and Bill T. Jones, to name a few. In addition, he has performed works by choreographers Gerri Houlihan, Anjali Austin, and Michael Foley. He is currently working on a new project with Liz Lerman and Jawole Zollar called Blood, Muscle, and Bones. Mr. Williams’ choreography has been performed by Dayton Contemporary Second Company, Texas Tech University, Towson University, University of Trinidad & Tobago, Coker College Dance Company, Urban Souls Dance Company, and his work has been showcased at The American Dance Festival, The American College Dance Festival, The Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, The Dance Gallery in Huntsville, Texas, and Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage. Mr. Williams has served as a faculty member at the University of
Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), University of Trinidad & Tobago, Howard Community College, Howard University Division of Fine Arts and Johns Hopkins Estellle Dennis/Peabody Dance Training Program for Boys. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Modern Dance & Choreography at the University of Florida.
Connect
IG: @trentdance1 & @trentdance1
Website: www.sistersunitepro.com/work