Skip to main content
Home

Utility navigation

  • Donate
  • About
    • Mission, Values, & History
    • Strategic Plan
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • Funders
    • Annual Report
    • Donate
    • Board of Directors & Staff
    • Employment
    • NEFA Logo Download & Crediting
  • Grants & Programs
    • Find a Grant
    • Grant Programs
    • Creative Economy
    • CreativeGround Directory
    • Grant Recipients
    • International Engagement
    • Return to Your Grant Application
  • Resources
    • Advocacy
    • Arts & Accessibility
    • Emergency Preparedness & Relief
    • Jobs & Opportunities
    • Native American Arts
    • Publications
    • Racial & Social Justice
  • News
    • NEFA 50th
    • Blog
    • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Mission, Values, & History
    • Strategic Plan
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • Funders
    • Annual Report
    • Donate
    • Board of Directors & Staff
    • Employment
    • NEFA Logo Download & Crediting
  • Grants & Programs
    • Find a Grant
    • Grant Programs
    • Creative Economy
    • CreativeGround Directory
    • Grant Recipients
    • International Engagement
    • Return to Your Grant Application
  • Resources
    • Advocacy
    • Arts & Accessibility
    • Emergency Preparedness & Relief
    • Jobs & Opportunities
    • Native American Arts
    • Publications
    • Racial & Social Justice
  • News
    • NEFA 50th
    • Blog
    • Press Releases
  • Events
Two men vogue. One of them is jumping.

Photo: Chris Cameron

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Grants & Programs
  3. Grant Recipients
Grant Recipient

Cynthia Oliver

Photo: Chris Cameron

Location
Urbana, IL
Digital Presence
Artist Website
Project Title
Virago-Man Dem
Fiscal Year Awarded
2018
Grant or Program
National Dance Project Production Grant
Grant Amount
$45,000

Virago-Man Dem is an evening-length, dance-theater work that troubles Virago’s reference to characteristically male behaviors as well as female cultural transgressions. A nuanced study in masculinities and their multiplicities within cultures of Caribbean and African American communities, Virago-Man Dem captures various masculinities through movement, spoken language, and visual design. The work explores the performance of black masculinities choreographed by a woman. Based in the lives of the performers – Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Ni’Ja Whitson, and Niall Noel Jones – the work extrapolates from those experiences to broader cultural trajectories. Estimated artist fee: $20,800/ performance, $24,400/week.

Tour Coordinator

Cornelio Casaclang | cornelio3@gmail.com
Company Manager
Cynthia Oliver Company Dance Theatre/COCo
tel 312.401.6819

Presenter Partners

  • Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival (Brooklyn, NY)
  • The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL)
  • Dance Place (Washington, DC)
  • Painted Bride Art Center (Philadelphia, PA)

What's Happening

Jun 4, 2026
A Black man, in a trucker hat and burnt orange blouse, stands behind a podium.

Leadership Grant to Amplify NEFA's Social Impact

Jun 1, 2026
Sara Nash is a white woman with shoulder length red hair. She is outside, on a porch, and in a green paisley blouse.

Sara Nash Named as First Chief Impact Officer of the New England Foundation for the Arts

May 28, 2026
Quita wears a wrap, a long necklace, and beaded earrings over a black turtleneck. Nakum is a light-skinned woman.

Quita Sullivan Receives Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) Sabbatical Award

See all News

Stay Connected

Receive the latest news, grant offerings, and community events.

Sign up

Footer Logo

321 Harrison Ave, Suite 420, Boston, MA 02118 T 617-951-0010 F 617-951-0016 info@nefa.org
Traditional lands of the Massachuset and the Wampanoag Peoples
NEFA is open Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Footer

  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Return to Grant Application
  • Staff Login
Four stars below the Charity Navigator logo.
Candid. learning's Platinum Transparency 2025 seal.

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instragram