Neima Patterson, third year World Arts and Cultures/Dance (WAC) major, teamed up with fellow UCLA Bruins (Anna Awolope, Kristin Baylis, Guya Frazier, Janae Osby, Natalee Palmer, Kenya Simms, Irmary Garcia, Anjali Vaswani, and Keenan Park) to produce the dance film Sister Soldiers.
As the filmmaker, editor, and choreographer of the film, Patterson addresses the stereotyped image of Black women as hyper-sexualized and dominant beings. Through choreographed dance, the film opposes the marginalization of African American women and rather defines Black womanhood as strength, pain, perseverance, beauty, and unity. “The relationships between Black women cannot be paralleled because they are unique: they are not just friends, they are sisters fighting through the journey of life,” said Patterson.
Sister Soldiers was showcased at this year’s WACsmash’D, an annual interdisciplinary live arts show held in Kaufman Hall, and can be viewed at the link below: