Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description Mikki Shepard, who began her relationship with BAM as the assistant to former Associate Director Courtney Callender, returned to BAM to produce the DanceAfrica festival. This was the beginning of a series of major roles she was to play within BAM’s leadership and identity development. In 1978, she was appointed director of community relations and education.
Like her mentor Callender before her, she saw programming as the vehicle to forging stronger community bonds: “How I defined community relations was through programming; the best way to relate to the community would be with programming they were actually interested in,” Shepard said in an interview. During her tenure from 1977 to 1983, she produced 25 major dance and music events, including the tap dance festivals Steps in Time and Tappin’ Uptown, and Dance Black America. She left in pursuit of more independence to realize her arts programming vision, but kept ties with BAM as a consultant for two years. Shortly afterward, she joined BAM’s board to serve on a committee to negotiate the use of the Majestic Theater. She later became the executive director of 651Arts, an independent arts entity which operated from within BAM’s premises, aimed specifically at serving audiences from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Identifier 1977s.SE.00001
