DIGITAL: Talk it Out: Soles of Duende

Brinda Guha, Amanda Castro, Arielle Rosales, Aida Rodriguez, Melanie George, Sayantani DasGupta, moderated by Gilbert T Small II.

Soles of Duende (Brinda Guha, Amanda Castro, and Arielle Rosales) bring together Aida Rodriguez, Melanie George, and Sayantani DasGupta for a discussion touching on healing, representation, timing, and the creative process across varying mediums of storytelling. These six women of color come from different industries and perspectives, but share the experience of engaging in the art of storytelling as a shared portal to understanding nuance and centering their shared humanity as people of the global majority and as women in often male-dominated spaces.

About Soles of Duende

A Brooklyn-born Puerto-Rican from New Haven, a Mexican Puerto-Rican Jew from the Lower East Side, and a Bengali Indian from Jersey walked on to the wooden floor & the rest? History. Bonded by their deep love of music, their crafts, and true connection, Soles of Duende is on a lifelong mission to elevate the joy and music of true collaboration across disciplines and the celebration of the forms they practice. Based in the sounds of Tap (Amanda Castro), Flamenco (Arielle Rosales) and Kathak (Brinda Guha), Soles of Duende’s fire is the spirit that lives within each of these women to celebrate their connection given their beautiful differences and to uplift the forms that made them.

About Aida Rodriguez

Aida Rodriguez is a Comedian, Writer, and Actor. Lauded by Esquire Magazine as “raucously funny,” she has become a favorite with fans and critics alike. With her first hour standup special premiered, her own TV series in development, both at HBO Max, and a deal for an animated series with ITV, Aida is bound for the comedy stratosphere.

About Melanie George

Melanie George is the founder and director of Jazz Is… Dance Project and Associate Curator and Director of Artist Initiatives at Jacob’s Pillow. As a dramaturg, she has contributed to projects by Raja Feather Kelly, Ephrat Asherie, Susan Marshall & Company, Kimberly Bartosik/daela and Urban Bush Women, among others. Melanie is featured in the documentary UpRooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance and founded the global advocacy website jazzdancedirect.com. She is the former Dance Program Director at American University, and has guest lectured at Harvard University, the Yale School of Drama, and The Juilliard School.

About Sayantani DasGupta

Sayantani DasGupta the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory-inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond books, the first of which—The Serpent’s Secret—was a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Best Middle Grade Novel of the 21st Century, and an EB White Read Aloud Honor Book. She is also the author of She Persisted: Virginia Apgar, a part of Chelsea Clinton’s She Persisted series from Penguin/Philomel, and Force of Fire, an anticolonial and Bengali folktale inspired fantasy set in the Kingdom Beyond multiverse from Scholastic. Her YA debut, Debating Darcy, a multicultural speech and debate feminist reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, comes out March 1, 2022, also from Scholastic. Sayantani is a pediatrician by training, but now teaches at Columbia University. Sayantani teaches in the Graduate Program in Narrative Medicine, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society and the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, all at Columbia University. She writes and speaks on issues of race, gender, health and social justice.

About Gilbert T Small II, moderator

Gilbert T Small II is a dancer, choreographer, dramaturg, and rehearsal director. He started his formal training at the Baltimore School for the Arts and holds a BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Upon finishing his education, he was invited to join Ballet British Columbia as a collaborator and movement artist. Over the ten years, he worked with some of the leading choreographers of today. He has also worked with Sidra Bell, Zoe Scofield, and Kyle Abraham. Gilbert is currently the Curatorial Director of Training and Rehearsal Director of the Gibney Company.

Talk It Out!, Gibney’s lively digital talk show, features celebrated moderators and curated guests from the best of the arts.

Gibney encourages people with disabilities to attend online offerings, and we welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. This event features live ASL interpreters and live captioning. If you have any questions or additional access needs, please email us at constanza@gibneydance.org or call us at 212-677-8560 (voice only) at least 24 hours in advance of the event you plan to attend.

From top to bottom, left to right: Soles of Duende by Darryl Padilla, Gilbert T Small II by Marcus Eriksson, Melanie George by JD Urban, Sayantani DasGupta by Stephanie Berger, and Aida Rodriguez by Netflix.