20th-century music, Abstract, Absurd, Ballroom, Conceptual, Erotic, Fashion photography, Functional, Lesbian style, Open-ended, Witty

Anne Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, and a professor of Classics and comparative literature at the University of Michigan. Carson lived in Montreal for several years and taught at McGill University. She is reticent about her private life; the biography published in current editions

Baroque, Erotic, Feminist, Intimate, Open-ended, Playful, Polychromatic, Sophisticated, Spiritual, Sublime, Witty

As the paradoxical name suggests, the dance troupe Urban Bush Women combines the spiritual elements of traditional African and Caribbean dance, song, and music with contemporary, Western dance forms. Artistic director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar describes UBW as "an ensemble dedicated to using cultural ex

Body politic/identity dance, Improvised, Joyful, Open-ended, Political, Spiritual

Playwright, professor, and Performance artist Anna Deveare Smith grounds her avant-garde theater in the infinitely strange world of reality. "I look for the poem that the person is," Smith says of the real-people inspirations for her dramatic characters. Instead of creating intricate backgrounds for

Collage, Huge, Layered, Open-ended, Political, Polychromatic, Sincere, Social protest, Solo performance