WexCast: André M. Zachery

This fall, Ohio State is hosting a residency by dancer, choreographer, and multimedia artist André M. Zachery, director of the Brooklyn-based company Renegade Performance Group. A highlight of Andre’s time in Columbus is a presentation here at the Wex of the RPG work Untamed Space, a look at 21st century African-American identity through the lens of history—specifically, the formation of maroon colonies. These independent communities were established in the 17th and 18th centuries by self-liberated Africans who escaped slavery by fleeing to rural, inaccessible areas after arriving in the Americas.

For this WexCast, Andre and Wex Director of Performing Arts Lane Czaplinski discuss his goals for the residency, how Andre’s family history informed his pursuit of a creative career, his interest in technology as a creative tool, the ties between marooning and the contemporary idea of safe spaces, and the connections between Untamed Space and the cultural movement of Afrofuturism.