Nationally Touring No Tears Project Comes to Charlotte
By Aushja Cotten
The Department of Dance will present a special performance of the “No Tears Project,” on April 25 at 7:30 pm at the Anne R. Belk Theater located in Robinson Hall. Admission is free.
The No Tears Project was founded in 2017 by vocalist Kelley Hurt and pianist Christopher Parker in partnership with Oxford American Magazine. The duo began with a commissioned musical composition, “No Tears Suite,” created to honor the history of the Little Rock Nine, the group of African American teenagers who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
After a successful debut, the No Tears Project went on the road, touring first to places such as Fayetteville, Arkansas, New Orleans, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2023, the project went to St. Louis, Missouri, where St. Louis native Ashley Tate, a dancer and choreographer who is now an assistant professor of dance at UNC Charlotte, joined the ensemble.
In a recent interview, Tate mentioned that the ensemble’s touring manager, Ryan Harris, invited her to join the group.
“When No Tears came into St. Louis for a tour stop, he contacted me because they were interested in adding dance to the program and because we worked together a long time ago,” she said. “I have done a lot of work independently as a solo dancer, including freelancing with live musicians.”
Since 2023, the No Tears Project has traveled to additional cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, with Tate a part of the team. In every tour stop, a civil rights event is honored with new compositions based on the history in that city.
“Kelley and I have a thing about living art,” said Parker in an interview. “It’s going to be different every time.”
The Charlotte production will include selections from previous cities’ programs and will feature a new work about the historical Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education case. This landmark Supreme Court decision addressed the segregation of Charlotte public schools and upheld the use of busing as a tool to dismantle it and promote educational equity.
Parker and Hurt will travel from Little Rock to join UNC Charlotte performers. Both undergraduate students and alumni, including 15 dancers, will participate in the production alongside Parker, Hurt and Tate.
Tate expressed her eagerness about presenting this project on campus. “I’m just super excited to introduce this to the Charlotte community and to UNC Charlotte specifically, because I have students now that are really interested in this intersection of live music, dance, civil rights and social activism.”
Parker noted that the No Tears Project, which is no longer associated with Oxford American, is in transition, and he welcomes the large role that students will play in the Charlotte program.
“Now it’s time to pass the torch a little bit. We want to empower the younger generation.”
A UNC Charlotte composition student is writing a piece about the Swann court case.
“You hear that and you’re like, how is that going to be? How are you going to bring that to life through music?” Tate said. “And…it’s that idea of, what are the highlights? Which factors in this case resonate with you, and what are the feelings that come up when you read about it?”
Tate hopes that all of the pieces in the production inspire audiences to learn more about the history being presented.
“We’re trying to plant a seed of feeling and curiosity through music and dance so that people are moved to learn more on their own. There’s something really compelling about discovering the history of the place you live. That local connection in each city is what makes it unique.”