Photographs, ring games, hymns, blankets, recipes, lessons, heirlooms, and fading memories... (Vincent E. Thomas)

This project captures reflections and memories of loved ones through spoken text, movement, music, video and projected images. The creation process for this work is informed through community engagement activities, table talks, interviews, and creative explorations with young and old. I am very interested in people and their stories and how to bring those to life in art. For Vincent E. Thomas/VTDance I want the work to be universal, tangible, and essential. This project is a bedrock for this mission.

Personal view:
Grandmothers are the matriarchs of families. This is proven true by the many interviews and conversations I have had with people all over the world. My grandma (Big Ma) had a profound impact on me and the lessons she instilled surface daily. I questioned why there was not much discussion in my family about Big Ma after her death. Was there something I didn't know about her death? Was I being sheltered or intentionally kept out of knowing things about her? In fact, after persistently asking various aunts and uncles, I realized that it was immense pain that kept them from talking a great deal about her. Over Thanksgiving dinner preparations, as my aunts and uncles were chopping veggies, frying, baking the meal, I began to open the box of questions again. As we were around the table (with many actions to prepare), the magic was unleashed. There was so much vibrant conversation about Big Ma. they were relaxed, open, and talked more freely about her. I thought, there is something about how families talk around the dinner table. So I thought of this idea Table Talk. I grabbed my notebook/journal and began jotting down wonderful stories about my grandmother. My great aunt Helen told my Aunt Pat: "If you don't talk about her, it's like she never lived." The Grandmother Project began...
Over the course of 3 years (and more), I gathered stories from people all over the world about grandmothers. From the US to South Africa, Scotland to France, all stories (good and bad) held grandmothers with the highest esteem and praise.

Project journey:
After the first performance of the project, the stories continued to come. When I moved to Baltimore, I added to the base of the work to create a "Grandmother Project Baltimore". Featured performers were: Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell (former principle dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), Steven Satta-Fleming (actor and colleague), dancers from the Morton Street Dance Center, Adia Evans (BSA vocalist), and Sharon Chaiklin (Dance Therapist and elder dancer).

Press quote:
"Thomas mined the deeply felt connections of grandmothers and their grandchildren." (Washington Post)