Urgent Emergent Performance Art Series, Volume Eight: Play

Event Information Taking a note from acclaimed poet and author, Danez Smith, this event has two titles: (When Black Folx) Play, or Play, celebrates the extemporaneous and improvisational aspects of Black music, or play, and invites attendees to sit in the play space with the artists, following the music wherever it may go. We’ve invited some of the most innovative creators in the Twin Cities to demonstrate song construction, musical deconstruction, and jazz with you all—Kashimana Ahua, Davu Seru & deVon Gray, alongside DJ Kenna! Oh, and you aren’t off the hook! We will have a few materials in the space for you to create as well. Let’s have some fun together. Tickets are available at TruArtSpeaks.org. The Urgent Emergent Performance Art Series powered by TruArtSpeaks (Urgent Art Series) is a year-long residency at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN, taking place monthly, every third Saturday,* in celebration of TruArtSpeaks' 20th year anniversary and - more importantly - all of the artists who make our work and community what it is. Founded in 2006, by Tish Jones, the arts & culture organization based in Saint Paul has a long history of providing platforms for artists to share timely and innovative work— this series is no different. The Urgent Art Series will invite new and true collaborators to share work that speaks to both the nightly theme and the series' invitation: urgent and emergent performance art. Known for being bold in their creative work, TruArtSpeaks has curated a year of creative expression that will move the crowd, the needle, and change forward through creative cultural expression. The Urgent Art Series is sponsored, in part, by Minnesota Public Radio. Artist Information DJ Kenna Kenna-Camara Cottman is Black, non-binary, a parent, a child and a community member in Mni Sota Makoce. Kenna may be known for her work with Voice of Culture, as a dancer, choreographer and educator, but it could also be noted that Kenna is also a practitioner of all the elements of Hip Hop, a community radio host and DJ, a certified Yoga teacher, and an improvisational vocalist. Kenna is an abolitionist non-violent transmitter and receiver and also in the practice of creating and experiencing Black space for cultural arts and liberation. Current projects include self study and reclamation through the Body Prayers cycle. Kenna is the child of Ancestors Beverly and Bill Cottman, community parents & artists each in their own rights. Kenna is the mother of Yonci Peaceful, a well known and respected artist, writer, DJ, activist and musician; and Ebrima Baye, an accomplished soccer player, golfer, enthusiastic gamer and proficient drummer. www.voiceofculture.org for more information on Kenna's forward facing projects. Davu Seru For the past 20+ years drummer Davu Seru has worked with numerous improvising musicians and composers throughout the United States and France including Milo Fine, George Cartwright, Nirmala Rajasekar, Douglas R. Ewart, Michelle Kinney, Dean Magraw, deVon R. Gray, Paul Metzger, Evan Parker, Didier Petit, Babatunde Lea, Nathan Hanson, Mankwe Ndosi, Rafael Toral, Donald Washington, Guillame Seguron, Tony Hymas, David Boykin, Catherine Delaunay, and Nicole Mitchell Gantt. He’s curated numerous concert series and has received composer awards from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations and commissions from Walker Art Center and Zeitgeist Ensemble. Davu is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Kashimana Kashimana (she/they) is a mother, musician, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, guitarist, and performing teaching artist with a rich soulful blues voice that soars through their original compositions. Mixing Pop, Soul, R&B and more, Kashimana’s distinctive voice pulls you in and connects you to frequencies that encourage connection and transformation. The name Kashimana means 'that's their heart' and you can hear their heart beating in the compelling sound of Kashimana’s music. Kashimana often draws inspiration from their experiences growing up in Nigeria, Kenya, traveling through Africa, Europe and finally settling in the United States. Kashimana weaves stories of becoming a mother, asking what prosperity would sound like for everyone and sharing the truth of what is going on in our communities locally and internationally. Kashimana has performed in and around Minnesota for the last 20 years. You can find them performing in local venues from Icehouse to the local library, conferences to elementary schools. Kashimana is also the founder of the Mamas Ignite Collective, A BIPOC collective that curates and creates spaces for Mamas to thrive in their creativity through collaboration, learning and art making. Kashimana is a 2025 McKnight Composer with the American Composers Forum, 2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a 2019 ACF In Common Composer in Residence, a 2019 Cedar Commissioned Artist, a presenter at Northern Spark Festival 2018 and 2019, 2020 MN Opera MNiatures CoCreator and Artists Respond: People, Place, Prosperity Recipient. deVon Russell Gray deVon Russell Gray is a divinely guided multi-media social justice activist and pantheistic audial alchemist whose work redefines the role of music in activism and cultural transformation. At the core of his practice is a foundational commitment to approaching every new project with humility and openness—embodying a “beginner’s mind” that seeks continual death and rebirth to expand his artistic horizons. Gray harnesses the power of sound to confront urgent social issues such as policing, personal autonomy, and the systemic injustices faced by Black and Brown communities. Echoing the words of scholar and composer George E. Lewis, who reflects on the emergence of a “new type of composer” rooted in intercultural dialogue, Gray embodies this evolution through his own transformative journey. After years of Eurocentric training and scholarship, Gray has intentionally dislocated from traditional frameworks, navigating a space centered in decoloniality and Afrofuturism. His work challenges existing paradigms, forging innovative cultural pathways that resonate deeply with contemporary social justice struggles and artistic liberation.