Praize Productions’ Production Shows That ‘Black Love Reigns Supreme’

Photo provided by Praize Productions, Inc.
Photo provided by Praize Productions, Inc.

Praize Productions’ Production Shows That ‘Black Love Reigns Supreme’

By Tia Carol Jones

Praize Productions is gearing up for its latest production, Black Love Reigns Supreme. The performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday-Saturday, May 3rd through the 4th, at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.

Weeks before the performance in a studio located near 47th and King Drive, the young dancers were rehearsing their moves and trying on costumes. This year, Praize Productions teamed up with Movement Strengthens Balance, LLC and Dance With Me Productions’ youth ensembles. There will be 60 dancers, with 50 children dancing, 10 professional dancers and a live band with musicians, singers and spoken word artists.

The youth train year-round in all genres. The regular season starts in September, with the choreography training starting in late October. Rehearsals process starts in December through January.

Praize Productions was founded in 2010 by Enneréssa LaNette Davis. It includes three components, PPI’s Arts Academy, RIZE Youth Company and RIZE Pro-Elite Dance Company. The production will go through the different aspects of love: Philia (friendly), Eros (romantic) and Agape (selfless). The production will include the youth dancing in four pieces, the professionals dancing in five pieces, with three visual arts pieces and a spoken word piece. The multidisciplinary production will also include a photography installation.

“I thought it was important because we did a photography installation for our Millenium Park residency and I did a full thing for the Blues Festival and I saw the impact that pictures have,” Davis said. “I think when we’re talking about Black love and community and us as Black people, so many times in the media, they distort who we are, our story visually … so, I wanted to spin that on its head and really make sure we take control, not only of our own narratives but our own visuals.”

Davis said she came up with the theme of Black love for this production after the last production, Call Her By Name, which was about Black women empowerment and taking ownership. She thought Black love was a great answer to that, because “once you love yourself, then you can love others, properly.”

Praize Productions, Inc. does socially conscious work, so Davis always takes the opportunity to promote the forward momentum of Black culture and the Black community. When she thought about Black love, she thought about what she wanted to say about it. She came up with “Black love reigns supreme.”

“When we come together as Black people and as a community, we send shock waves through the world. I just felt like the power we have when we understand that and we love ourselves, we’re unstoppable as a people,” Davis said.

Davis did the inner work and self-discovery to come up with the theme. She wants people to leave the theater feeling loved, seen, heard and celebrated. She envisions people walking out after the production smiling.

“I just want it to be a big old hug. Then, them taking that same love into their households, into their communities, on their jobs when they’re faced with difficulty, in their respective fields and it continues to permeate past May 3rd and May 4th,” Davis said.

For more information about Praize Productions and to purchase tickets for the production, visit www.praizeproductions.com.


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