The Untethered: Homecoming 2020

Nuanced Revolutionaries

The Untethered, a troupe of BIPOC Theatre alumni, present their new work in "Homecoming." This never-before-seen live online event series features performances of song, dance, spoken word and monodrama exploring the quest of diverse artists to carve out their own space at W&M and the American creative landscape. Followed by an open discussion from the cast, "Homecoming" is more than a performance, it is a "liberated unspooling of untold stories from W&M community."

NUANCED REVOLUTIONARIES: Tonight features the many different ways BIPOC and minoritized students can be leaders in reclaiming and creating their own spaces of agency. It features Tanya Boucicaut's biographical playlet about being stopped by police at William & Mary as performed by Erin K. Owens and Alivia Long. Ravali Ceyyur will perform a traditional Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical) dance piece and reflect on her time as Producing and Artistic Director of IPAX and performance in WHEN THE PURPLE SETTLES. Pallavi Rudraraju will deliver a poem about how she fused the many South Asian dance forms at W&M to form HASYA dance company. Nam Woochan wrote HOAGIE BLUES, an exploration of life as an Asian international student, to be delivered by Quan Chau. Erin K. Owens will pay tribute to the late Paul Sutter and how he was instrumental in her belonging in theatre. Xavi Soto-Burgos and Chris Richardson will perform a mini-concert where they explore how they encourage and empower themselves to achieve their dream, singing songs that empower the present generation to believe in themselves.

Cast

Xavi Soto-Burgos

Performer

Xavi Soto-Burgos was born and raised in the Bronx. He is a graduate of William & Mary and has studied at The Stella Adler Studio of Acting with great teachers such as David Deblinger. On stage he has had the pleasure of portraying roles such as Paul in A Chorus Line, Flip in Our Lady of 121st Street, and Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. Most recently he appeared in Identity Production Studios' short film Solo Orange and is working on a movie musical entitledNuminous. When he's not on stage he is in the kitchen on his Youtube cooking show “Bronx Boys Kitchen”.

Quan Chau

Performer

Quan Chau '21 is thrilled to be a part of Coming Out Asian-American! A rising senior and Theatre/Biology major at William & Mary, he has recently been in the ensemble of Rolling the R’s (Aguas Arts & Ink). Other favorite roles include Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore (W&M), and Sky Square in Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical (Virginia Repertory Theatre). As a Catron Scholar at W&M, Quan spends his free time wracking his brain for ideas to write his own show, and binge watching movies.

Quan will be performing WooChan Nam's work

Alivia Long '14

Performer

Alivia Long '14 (Theatre Major, Film Studies Minor). Alivia received her MFA from East 15 Acting School in the UK, and is currently pursuing film and television in Los Angeles. She is currently a board member for F.A.T.E. Global Inc., a non-profit that empowers artists through industry workshops and mentorship events.

Alivia will be performing Tanya Boucicaut's work

Erin K. Owens

Performer

ERIN OWENS: Erin Owens is a 2017 W&M alum who obtained a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in World performing arts & cultures for Social Justice. During her time at W&M she has performed leading roles both on Mainstage plays such as Big Love and Crowns, and many W&M alumni and surrounding college students, including University of Virginia, original works. Her talent was not limited to the stage. She has scripted, directed, and filmed original and collaborative works. She was also on multiple boards of performing arts clubs including Syndicate (dance), Voices (poetry), Ase (black theatre). Currently, she works as a registered behavior technician providing services to people with autism. She is now a candidate at the University of Capella obtaining her master’s in Psychology with a focus in Applied behavior analysis and plans to do research to make therapy more accessible to minorities and people around the world.

Ravali

Performer

Ravali Ceyyur graduated from William & Mary in 2011 with a BA in Anthropology. A trained Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical) dancer, Ravali taught as T.A. alongside Professor Francis Tanglao-Aguas in Theater 333 (South & Southeast Asian Performance Styles) and performed as a member of the dance ensemble for WHEN THE PURPLE SETTLES. Ravali was also an active member of the International Performance Arts eXchange (IPAX), a student organization dedicated to diversifying the arts platform at William & Mary (now absorbed into APIA Studies). From 2010-2011, Ravali served as Producing and Artistic Director of IPAX, and brought preeminent Carnatic (South Indian Classical) vocalists, the Malladi Brothers and T.M. Krishna, to campus for the first time to present lecture demonstrations on the Carnatic music tradition. Now based in New York, Ravali continues to broaden awareness and appreciation of the Indian fine arts, and also teaches and performs.

Christopher Michael Richardson

Performer

Christopher Michael Richardson is an actor and teaching artist in the Washington D.C. area. He has appeared in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical) at The John F. Kennedy Center TYA; Matilda at Olney Theatre Center; You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown at Imagination Stage (Helen Hayes Award, TYA Production); and The Wiz at Ford’s Theatre (Helen Hayes Nomination, Supporting Actor). He holds a BA in English and Theatre from William & Mary.

Nam Woochan

Writer

Nam Woochan

Performer

Pallavi Rudraraju is the Youth Well-Being Coordinator at the Human Rights Campaign, where they advocate for LGBTQ+ youth and their families through educational, leadership, and outreach programming. They coordinate HRC's Youth Ambassador Program, the Parents for Transgender Equality National Council, the Time to THRIVE annual conference for youth-serving professionals, and the Project THRIVE coalition of youth-serving professional associations. Prior to their work at HRC, Pallavi served as the VA Middle School Program Coordinator at AALEAD, working with middle and high school youth to support their social, academic, and leadership growth as young citizens in an increasingly connected and diverse world. In their time as a youth-serving professional, Pallavi has created a two-week middle school Mental Health Awareness initiative, published resources for parents of gender expansive youth, and provided professional developments on Asian American Mental Health and serving LGBTQ youth. Prior to their professional work, Pallavi served the William & Mary community through appointments to the President's Task Force on Race and Race Relations, the Center for Student Diversity as SEED Dialogue facilitator, and organized campus-wide religious, cultural, and racial justice and LGBTQ-centered events. Pallavi possesses certification in Advanced Youth Development and is additionally trained in conflict resolution, supporting LGBTQ youth, arts facilitation, and solidarity practice. Pallavi holds degrees in APIA Studies and World Performing Arts & Cultures from William & Mary.

Writer

TANYA BOUCICAUT: Tanya Boucicaut, a native of Virginia Beach, is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Writing and Rhetoric Ph.D. student at George Mason University. She is also the guest editor for the Journal of American Folklore's forthcoming special issue, "African American Expressive Culture and Protest, Imagination, and Dreams of Blackness". Before her appointment at VCU, she was also the CEO and founder of a faith-based non-profit youth theatre education organization called Perfect Love Community Youth Theatre for two-and-a-half years. This organization focuses on work with middle school students. Out of this work, her thesis was birthed. It focused on her unique program design, Courageous Solstice: Reconstructing Fairy Tales for a Black Youth Aesthetic. She holds a B.A. in English from the College of William and Mary, an M.Div. from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and an M.F.A. in Theatre Pedagogy with a concentration in Dramatic Literature and Dramaturgy from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.