David Zambrano's Soul Project returns to the U.S. in April! After their overwhelming success in NYC in 2010, Zambrano and his multi-national dance troupe are back for a six-week tour with "an enthralling evening of visceral solos set to soul music" (The New York Times). See them in cities from coast to coast!

Marc Bamuthi Joseph's red, black & GREEN: a blues continues to inspire audiences around the U.S. "rbGb is an exhilarating and interactive performance of dance, text and video that evokes a visceral reaction" (Heavy ARTillary, Houston). Next stops: The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, with more to come through June 2012.

Ralph Lemon is taking the "stage" in different realms this spring. His exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1856 Cessna Road, will be on view March 28 to May 27, with drawings, video and photos from Ralph's epic collaboration with Walter Carter. On March 31, catch An All Day Event. The End., Ralph's curatorial contribution to Ishmael Houston Jones' brilliantly conceived "Platform 2012: Parallels" at Danspace Project in NYC.

Dean Moss and company perform Nameless forest at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD on April 5 & 6. Don't miss this opportunity to see what one blogger called an "arresting visual and aural cacophony...provocative, intelligent and completely engaging."

Leila Buck recently offered a glimpse of her play Hkeelee in process -- from the writing studio to the stage -- as part of The Access Writer's Project at the Access Theater in NYC. Dramaturg Amrita Ramanan has just joined the project, and will be working closely with Leila as the Hkeelee script takes shape this year.

Lars Jan is heading into the studio at home in Los Angeles to begin the design/build process for the first of three jumbo aquariums that will provide the setting for his new work, Holoscenes. Lars has put together an amazing creative-technical team for this ambitious project: aquarium designer Dan Hancock; hydraulic engineer Check Kirivong; Pablo N. Molina, specialist in emerging technologies; Barry Farley, Aquatics Director at Cirque du Soleil; and acclaimed choreographer and performer Geoff Sobelle.

Nora Chipaumire just wrapped up a residency at the Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center (in Troy, NY) with her MIRIAM collaborators, Omar Sosa and Okwui Okpokwasili. As she works in the studio in NYC this spring, she'll be visited by our new Read & Reflect group, a fantastic group of creative, thoughtful women who are actively following the development of MIRIAM. By reading and discussing texts which inspire Nora, giving feedback on what they see in the studio, and sharing life experiences with each other, the group will be delving deeply into the ideas and inspirations behind this work in the months leading up to MIRIAM's premiere in September.

This spring our home community of NYC is full of LIFE! On April 23, MAPP and the CUNY Graduate Center's Martin E. Segal Graduate Center co-present "Earth Day: From Valuing Green to Sustaining Life with Marc Bamuthi Joseph," a day of activities to broaden the language of the "green" movement and celebrate the sustainable survival practices both native and new to communities often excluded from the conversation. Save the date for a full day of film screenings, a lunch-time People's Potluck led by Samita Sinha and Julie Ulehla, an afternoon dialogue and an evening with Urban Word Youth Poets and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, as we ask: "What sustains life in our community?"

MAPP co-director Cathy Zimmerman and other members of The Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium gather later this month in Johannesburg, South Africa, coordinating their meeting with the annual Dance Umbrella Festival in that city. U.S. Consortium members will be joined by TACAC affiliate artists Boyzie Cekwana, Nelisiwe Xaba, and Gregory Maqoma at this meeting, where they will lay the groundwork for an expanded program of artistic exchanges. Their busy schedule also includes seeing lots of dance works by festival artists and participating in a meeting convened by the renowned Market Theatre specifically to introduce Africa Consortium members to the local theater scene.