Lovers of the arts and activism can find solace in glo, an Atlanta-based nonprofit seeking to educate and inspire through choreography.
According to its website, glo’s mission is “to raise consciousness, repair communities, create change, and bring forth social impact through ongoing action.”
According to the organization’s founder, lauri stallings, “Atlanta is the perfect place for that.”
The movement of the body has always been a sign of freedom. Take Josephine Baker, a dancer turned World War II spy, who used the horrific tropes lobbied against Black people to make fun of the absurdities surrounding minstrelsy. Or Kennedy George and Ava Holloway, two teenage ballet dancers from Richmond, Virginia who used their platforms and dance moves to advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Glo has continued this tradition, and stallings takes pride in the fact that glo is a female-led organization active in the South.
“The work I’m involved in is about trying to bring intention and love and beauty back to the source, to its origin. I don’t think this work could happen anywhere else in the world,” stallings said. “Being an activist isn’t a choice. We have more work to do, and so the movement continues.”
She said that her father’s history as an activist is what pushes her to continue trying to tell stories through physical means. His activism pushes her to keep faith and continue.
“I’m thinking about those dimensions, and how I’m carrying him and he’s carrying me,” stallings said.
When she founded glo in 2009, stallings chose to refer to her team as “moving artists” instead of dancers after weeks of deliberation. She credits these moving artists with the ongoing success of glo’s mission.
“When I thought of that term, moving artists, I remember being really excited,” she said. “I think they’d be angry if I called them dancers. They’re so much more than that.”
Since its founding, glo has featured at the High Museum of Art, Hambidge Arts Center, Atlanta Symphony Hall, and more.
Up next for glo is “Making Kin” that seeks to invoke a cultural understanding of history through live performance. Music from Lonnie Holley’s 2013 album “Keeping a Record Of It” will be used throughout this performance.. Holley’s music has strong notes of reggaeton and R&B, a music genre primarily used by Black people in the Deep South to express the pain and agitation they have experienced under oppression. “Making Kin” premieres June 18 and continues through June 22 at the High Museum of Art.
With more pieces to come, stallings is consistently working with teams of people to bring the vision of both artists and activists to life. To find out more about all the upcoming events and workshops, visit gloplatform.org.