doubleXposure Podcast

Theresa Ruth Howard fell in love with ballet as a little girl. And she was one of the aspiring ballerinas who got to live her dream. Howard went on to write about dance, and ultimately, to work with ballet companies that aspired to open the rarified art form to a more diverse pool of both dancers and audience members. Howard is also the founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, a project that seeks to make Black dancers' stories accessible to a wider audience. Vivian and Marcie spoke with Howard about her work, and about her vision for ballet in the 21st century and beyond.

Dr. Quinton Morris is a violinist, a fully tenured professor music at Seattle University, a radio host, arts advocate and mentor to young people who might not get the opportunity to study classical music. Morris didn't set out the become a performing artist, but when he got to college, he reinvented his future. Now, Morris wears more hats than most people, and works tirelessly for both artists and the arts. Co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman sat down with Quinton Morris to learn about his backstory, and about his vision for the future. 

Nia-Amina Minor was little more than a toddler when she started entertaining her family with little dances she'd create and perform in their living room. After training at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, Minor thought she's leave dance behind when she entered Stanford University. Instead, Minor pursued a graduate degree in dance, moved to Seattle to join Spectrum Dance Theatre, and has evolved into one of the city's most versatile teachers, dancemakers and visionary artists. She shares her story, and her dreams of building a thriving West Coast artistic community, with co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips.

When barry johnson was a kid in Kansas, he knew he wanted to be an artist, but he didn't see people that looked like him creating paintings or sculptures.. johnson moved to Seattle after college for a job in the regional tech industry. Every day on the bus to work, he'd pull out his sketch book, pull out his headphones and draw. Now this self-taught artist is one of the biggest names in Seattle's creative community.  For johnson, making art is as much about telling the stories of his community as it is self-expression. And the artist plans to keep it that way as he tells co-hosts Vivian Phillips and Marcie Sillman.

When Preston Singletary was growing up in Seattle in the 1970's and '80's, he dreamed of being a professional musicians. But when he went over to hang out with his buddy after school. Singletary's life took a different path. His friend, Dante Marioni's dad Paul was part pf Seattle's thriving art glass movement, and young Preston found himself drawn to the art form.  More than 40 years later, Singletary has become one of the world's most famous glass artists, pioneering techniques that allow him to replicate Northwest Indigenous designs, and to transmit the stories of his Tlingit ancestors.  Co-hosts Marcie Sillman and Vivian Phillips paid a visit to Singletary's studio, located in the middle of the Seattle campus of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to talk about craft and legacy and the importance of cultural stories.