The Ross and The Lied Center for Performing Arts will host a free film event on October 1st at 5:00 p.m. in partnership with the Lied’s October 3rd performance of Step Afrika! The Migration.

The screening will feature three short films that examine and contextualize artist Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series (which inspired Step Afrika’s new production) and the films of Spencer Williams, a prominent actor/director during the 1930s-40s, whose movies offered hope and a new beginning for an audience affected by the Great Migration. Dr. Kwakiutl Dreher will introduce the screenings and lead a short post-show talk after the films.

Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series: A conversation between Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, discussing the history of painter Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, going through all 60 panels and discussing the composition and history of the Series. (11 min)

Juke: Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams (2015): Thom Andersen’s experimental short film edits and combines six of Spencer Williams’ films into a feature that emphasizes his common theme of saints & sinners as well as the journey from temptation to salvation. (29 min)

The Blood of Jesus (1941): Spencer Williams’s film looks at spiritual temptation. As Martha is at her death bed, an angel arrives to take her spirit to heaven, but at a literal crossroads, she is tempted by Judas to go the other side of sin. (57 min)

Presented in partnership with:

STEP AFRIKA! THE MIGRATION – Reflections on Jacob Lawrence
Thursday, October 3 @ The Lied Center for Performing Arts
After thrilling Lied Center audiences in 2021, Step Afrika! returns with lightning-fast footwork, percussive chants, and incredible synchronicity, creating a heart-pounding experience and celebrating the African American tradition of stepping. Based on Jacob Lawrence’s iconic paintings The Migration Series that chart the story of African American migrants moving from the south to the north in the early 1900s, Step Afrika’s powerful new work uses the images and motifs of visual art to tell the migration story through body percussion and dance.