First Amendment Troop’s The ResistDance

“This is about the humanity of the atrocities we are seeing daily,” says choreographer Matthew Steffens.

On Monday, February 16, Presidents’ Day, 22 professional dancers gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. There, they performed a 90-second contemporary dance, titled The ResistDance, choreographed by Steffens and performed by artist collective First Amendment Troop. The work honors the lives of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents during enforcement operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January. The dancers then performed the piece outside the recently renamed Trump Kennedy Center.

“This is about honoring the lives of two heroes, Renée and Alex, defending our First Amendment rights, and art as dissent,” says Bryan Buckley, a film director with hungryman productions, which produced the performance. “The ResistDance will pay tribute to all those who have suffered under this administration, and demand actual accountability instead of false remorse for what is happening across our country.”

Video courtesy First Amendment Troop.