Houston dance company shares black history on stage

A Houston dance company is celebrating Texas' black history on stage.

Nia's Daughters Movement Collective is on a mission to create and support art and wellness initiatives through the lens of black women and girls.

"We began in 2018," said Stacey Allen, artistic director and founder of Nia's Daughters Movement Collective. "Our purpose was to really be able to tell African American stories through dance and art."

Dancers with the multigenerational collective train in a technique that blends African Diaspora dance with ballet and modern dance.

"We get to tell stories of our ancestors, our history, especially black history," said dancer Mia Hall. "And I also love the style of dance that we do. It's an Afro-modern style that I wasn't used to before starting, and now that I'm learning it, I've grown to love it."

"Nia's Daughters Movement Collective tries to focus on bridging generations," said Allen. "So we have a group of adult professional dancers who are the main company members, but every show we always are very intentional about inviting young people to come and join us."

Since 2022, Nia's Daughters Movement Collective has been performing a historically-inspired dance and theater production called The Fairytale Project across Texas. The Fairytale Project tells the real-life love story of Jim and Winnie Shankle, who founded one of Texas' earliest freedom colonies, Shankleville. Nia's Daughters founder Stacey Allen has a personal connection to their story, since some of her own family members are descendants of the Shankles.

"Jim and Winnie were enslaved on a plantation in Mississippi, and then Winnie, the wife, was sold to a plantation in Texas," said Allen. "Jim decided he did not want to live without his wife and his family, and so he escaped, traveling through slave territory, crossing the Mississippi River, and reconnecting with his wife in Newton County."

For a second year, Nia's Daughters Movement Collective is producing and hosting the official Juneteenth Return in Galveston. You can see The Fairytale Project performed at 2pm on Friday, June 19, at the Juneteenth Legacy Headquarters, located at 2217 The Strand.

For more information on Nia's Daughters, visit niasdaughters.com.