The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students invites leaders from Princeton performing arts groups to submit an application for the inaugural ODUS Arts EDI Circuit. Selected officers will join a cohort of 30-35 students that will receive ongoing mentorship, support, and resources from the newly formed Alumni Arts Alliance (‘A3’). Deadline October 16, 2020, 6pm EST
I. Purpose
The Alumni Arts Alliance (‘A3’) was formed as a joint collaboration between three Princeton Alumni, Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. ‘09, Adam Hyndman ‘12, and Ronee Penoi ‘07, to develop and launch an intentional effort to center the advancement of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism for a leadership cohort made up of members of Princeton’s student performing arts groups.
The A3 will work in partnership with the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Lewis Center for the Arts to advance the efforts and impact of the ODUS Arts EDI Circuit. The A3 will provide a holistic framework of support for student leaders of performing arts groups as they develop a rigorous anti-racism lens that permeates everyday practices of their respective groups and the overall Princeton arts community.
A3 will provide facilitation of a series of Critical Conversations as well as a two-part Summit that uplifts the values of mentorship, collaboration, inter-class participation, and reflection in the development of a more inclusive and equitable ethos for artists supporting student performing arts groups on Princeton University’s campus.
A cohort of student leaders will be selected by A3 to participate in the series of critical conversations, workshops, and guest speaker panels through the fall. Select student groups will be given the opportunity to apply for funding for direct consultation for activities such as crafting an EDI/antiracism statement, planning an equitable auditions process, or focusing on a myriad of topics centering the experiences of Black, Indigenous People of Color at Princeton.
The Alumni Arts Alliance will provide service to Princeton’s arts community in 3 distinct ways:
Launch and facilitate student learning and critical conversations through a Critical Conversation Series with their cohort of student arts leaders
Curate an EDI Summit, which will consist of a rigorous series of workshops investigating EDI and anti-racist resources / pedagogy and fostering a mechanism for accountability for campus culture and the arts at Princeton.
Provide direct guidance for anti-racist restructuring and consultation to individual student groups following the EDI Summit through a grant offered to subsidize the direct consultation of an A3 member who will provide guidance on transforming policies, systems, and behaviors to be explicitly anti-racist.
II.Who We Are
Ronee Penoi ’07 (Laguna Pueblo/Cherokee) is a producer, composer, facilitator and activist. As Producer at Octopus Theatricals, she advances the work of many outstanding artists from development, production, to touring in the US and internationally. These artists and projects include Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jafferis (Activist Songbook), DeLanna Studi (And So We Walked), Phantom Limb Company (Falling Out), Ripe Time (Haruki Murakami’s Sleep), Homer’s Coat (An Iliad by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson), Christine Jones’ Theatre for One, and many more. Previously, Ronee was NNPN Producer-in-Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Senior New Play Producing Fellow and Directing Fellow at Arena Stage, and toured nationally with Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy. She is a two-time ISPA (International Society for Performing Arts) Global Fellow, and has been an APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) Leadership Fellow and TCG (Theatre Communications Group) Rising Leader of Color. Ronee is a composer at work on two new musicals with collaborator Annalisa Dias under the banner of FLORA MUSICALS, and is a co-founder of the Groundwater Arts Collective dedicated to climate justice in the arts (recipient of a SPACE at Ryder Farm Residency Grant). Groundwater Arts’ work includes movement building/organizing around a Green New Theatre (GNT), bespoke consulting in decolonization and anti-racism, and new creative theatrical projects. Ronee is a proud NEFA (New England Foundation for the Arts) National Theater Project Advisor, serves on Western Arts Alliance Committees (Indigenous and Conference Steering Committees) and co-leads the emerging Creative and Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA) Programs Committee. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Global First Nations Performance Network. Ronee is a recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Individual Artist Fellowship for her musical composing work. Previously Ronee spent three years with the Consensus Building Institute, a non-profit specializing in facilitation and mediation services. Her current anti-racism practice builds upon a decolonization framework and embraces systems change as a key component of that work. She graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in Music with certificates in Vocal Performance and Theatre & Dance. Recently Ronee collaborated with current students as an alumni artist on a project commemorating 50 years of co-education at Princeton. She has also been invited to guest lecture on producing at Princeton, Howard University, and for American University’s graduate Arts Administration program.
Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. ’09 is Assistant Dean & Assistant Professor Adjunct in Theater Management at the Yale School of Drama and the General Manager of Yale Repertory Theatre. Kelvin was born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, GA. Kelvin developed his passion for theater management and producing while an undergraduate at Princeton University where he received his A.B. degree in English: Track V and received a Certificate in Theatre & Dance from the Lewis Center for the Arts. He earned his M.F.A. in Theatre Management & Producing from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Prior to Yale, Kelvin worked at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey where he spent four years as General Manager and produced over 25 productions and 2 original cast albums, including Be More Chill prior to its Broadway run. Kelvin’s career in theatre has brought him a range of experiences from producing on Broadway at the National Artists Management Company to his roles as Communications & Development Manager at The Civilians, Development Fellow at the National Corporate Theatre Fund (a.k.a Theatre Forward), and Associate General Manager at Intiman Theatre in Seattle. Kelvin currently serves on the Board of Directors for the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and the Board of Trustees for the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Yale Cabaret, and the Princeton University Triangle Club. Kelvin has also guest lectured on topics of theater management and leadership at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Brown University, and Princeton University. Kelvin is currently the Co-Chair of the LORT Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and has developed initiatives to raise the representation of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in executive leadership of nonprofit theatres.
Adam Hyndman ’12 is a performing artist, producer, and activist. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and minors in theater and dance. He has worked extensively in the arts, performing on stage and screen with roles on Broadway and television. Some notable credits include: NBC’s The Sing Off, Children Of Eden at the Kennedy Center, Aladdin on Broadway, Once On This Island on Broadway and Hadestown on Broadway. Adam was a co-producer for The Inheritance on Broadway. He is currently incubating several projects as an independent producer as well as within the team at Octopus Theatricals. Adam uses his experiences working with narratives to challenge his vision for the world, and it leads him to opportunities in and out of the arts. He is passionate about creating possibilities for people to connect and activate their purpose. Adam is honored to serve on the board of directors for Broadway For Racial Justice where he is specifically charged with curating community through mentorship and volunteer programs. His purpose in this work is for disruption, radical accessibility, and reconciliation, and he continues this as a founder of The Industry Standard Group (a community fund for BIPOC folks to invest and produce in commercial theater). As an individual committed to excellence and progressive achievement through collaboration, he works toward the manifestation of a diverse and inclusive world.
III. A3 Student Expectations
Student participants in the EDI Circuit Programming are expected to:
Attend all scheduled Critical Conversations and Summit workshops
Respect the confidentiality and vulnerability of participants and groups represented in the cohort
Communicate with members of A3 on the ethos and challenges framing EDI/antiracism in their student group
Honor the established working agreements established amongst the cohort
Commit to the disruption of oppressive, discriminatory practices that severely limits the engagement of students on Princeton’s campus
Contribute to a culture of inclusion in the arts community at Princeton
