A commitment to the next generation

Now in its fourth year, the annual Liz Cherry Jones Memorial Commission (LCJMC) was created in 2021 by Matthew Jones in memory of his late sister, Liz Cherry Jones (April 28, 1955 – August 1, 2017), a lifelong artist and educator. 

This partnership with Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts commissions recent alumni and undergraduate artists at Howard to create new performance works for the Company. The Commission  supports performing artists of all kinds, including choreographers, composers, dramatic artists, filmmakers, and interdisciplinary artists. The goal of the Commission is to foster and support the awardee’s entrance into their professional arts career and to carry on Ms. Jones' legacy as a passionate advocate for arts education.

Liz Cherry Jones was a longtime teacher for the Albemarle County School District (VA), a textile artist, a local African American community historian, and an Angora goat farmer who also played piano and loved to sing. It was the synthesis of these talents, careers, and interests that led Mr. Jones to create the Liz Cherry Jones Memorial Commission with Company | E and Howard University in his sister’s memory.

“Liz was an educator. She saw first-hand and believed completely in the power of the finest multidisciplinary schooling. She was a passionate advocate for the importance of teaching artistic expression in all its forms to people of all ages – especially children – as an essential element of building critical cognitive and social skills such as problem solving, cooperation, self-worth, and empathy,” notes Mr. Jones. 

“Her two Masters’ Degrees attest to her belief in higher education. She was also an artist herself, who recognized the challenges of making a life and career in these fields of passion and purpose,” Mr. Jones adds. “And so, put together, it is an obvious choice in honoring her name and life to offer a unique opportunity to the Howard University student and recent alumni community. Providing a funded pipeline to getting work set on the finest contemporary dance troupe in DC – one I have a long relationship with – means that the art will have a rich and deep life, hopefully traveling the world in the Company | E repertoire.” 

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Created by MATT JONES

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The Commission’s founder and lead underwriter, Matthew Jones, is a member of the Aerospace Industry (30+ years) as well as a professional musician. He has been making music for over four decades and has created original musical compositions for Company | E and its predecessor companies since 1989. He is a founding and current member of the Board of Directors for Company | E. 

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Curated by Company | E, Dr. Ofosuwa Abiola and Professor Royce Zackery

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The Commission is curated by Mr. Jones, Company | E Co-Artistic Directors Paul Gordon Emerson and Kathryn Sydell Pilkington, and the  Associate Dean of Research and Creative Endeavors in Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, Dr. Ofosuwa Abiola. 

“This is exactly the type of opportunity we seek for our students: real-world paths from University to the professional world. The fact that this is open to both our undergraduates and recent alumni means we can select from the most extraordinary young talent, serving not just to educate and empower them on the university campus, but also provide them with a first step out into the careers they have spent their lives training for,” Dr. Abiola says. “To have the Commission made in honor of a woman who was both an academic and an artist feels exactly right.”

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Meet 2023 LCJMC Awardee Jade Stewart

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Company | E and Howard University are proud to introduce Jade Stewart as the 2023 LCJMC awardee.

Jade Stewart has been dancing for 15 years. She started training in her hometown dance studio. Jade received her High School Diploma in Contemporary Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She is currently in her third year of pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Arts with a minor in Biology and Chemistry at Howard University. 

Jade has trained in various styles and techniques like Counter Technique ,Cunningham Technique, Release Technique, Limón technique, West African, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, and Liturgical dance. She has performed works by various choreographers such as “Trying on the Space” by Juel D. Lane,"Something that was Once Familiar" by Ashley Lindsey, Missa Brevis by José Limón set by Sean Sullivan,"Lemayuz" by Ming-Lung Yang,"Chance Study" based on Merce Cunningham repertory and many more. While at Howard University, Jade has performed and choreographed in student choreography concerts and other repertoire showcases. 

Jade had the opportunity to work with choreographer Kayah Franklin. She is also a second year company member of RawArts Dance Company located in the DMV area. Additionally, Jade is active in her local community as she teaches young children the art of Liturgical dance. 

Jade is eager to develop and polish her artistic skills as she continues to explore the art of dance. 

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A Chat with Jade Stewart 

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Q: Tell us a bit about what its like to be awarded this commission 

I feel extremely fortunate to have received the Liz Cherry Jones Memorial Commission. In addition to working with Company E this year for the LCJMC, I was able to travel to Tunisia to choreograph and collaborate with the Tunisian dancers. After spending time in Tunisia creating my choreography, I realized that artist are beautiful regardless of where you come from.Being awarded the LCJMC and carrying on the creative legacy established before me is such a blessing. I'm also appreciative to Company E for encouraging and guiding me through the entire process. 

Q: What are you creating for the commission? 

I'm creating a piece that explores ideas of community through struggles and adversity. Each dancer in my work is experiencing their own distinct obstacle. The dancers begin to build a sense of community with the other dancers in the space. The relationship between the dancers grows creating a support system as they continue through their life's journey.support throughout their lives. 

Q: You’re taking LCMCJ to a whole new level this year, making the work not just on Company E but on dancers in Tunisia. And you’re in Tunisia doing the work. What’s that experience like? 

The experience of working with dancers in Tunisia is exciting and educational.This experience has taught me how to design movement that compliments many movement styles. I've gotten to know the dancers, learnt about their various techniques, and we've even shared ideas. Overall, this experience has helped me to grow and develop as a choreographer, dancer, and artist. 

Q: You’re creating with Clifton Brockington — also a HU alum — how is it to create with a composer? 

Creating with Clifton was an enriching and collaborative experience. Working with a composer offered me a unique opportunity to bring my creative vision to life through music. 

Q: What’s the most challenging part of this for you? 

The most challenging part of this process was planning for the unexpected. Before arriving in Tunisia I didn’t know what to expect or how to approach this project until I came here. Once I arrived I learned how to prioritize the time I had with my dancers and create movement in the moment 

Q: Finally, what would you like people to know about the work? How does it give us an insight into Jade Stewart the person as well as the choreographer?

I want people to know that as a choreographer. I create movement from authentic emotions influenced by my diasporic background. I take in the music, feel it in my bones, and use my creative movements to narrate the story. I want everyone who sees my work to experience real, raw emotion coming from the stage. 

 

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LOOKING BACK: 2021 Inaugural Year Commission Awardees:   RAYVEN LEAK with CLIFTON BROCKINGTON

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The Commission launched in June 2021 with the first awardee, Rayven Leak, creating a new work for Company | E’s June 2021 NEXT:WARMER concert, focusing on climate change and ecology. Ms. Leak, a 2020 Howard University graduate, was selected by Dr. Abiola and Mr. Jones for her fresh, rich choreographic talent. “She’s a perfect beginning to this program,” Dr. Abiola notes. 

“It’s an honor to be named as the choreographer for the inaugural Liz Cherry Jones Memorial Commission. Creating is a special opportunity always, especially for a company like Company | E in DC. But to know that my work is in honor of Matt’s sister, an artist and educator in her own right, is transformative. My hope is that what is made will embody her and her spirit. I’m very proud to be a part of this, and to be the Commission’s voice on stage.” 

Ms. Leak is joined in creating for the LCJMC by Clifton Brockington, who is Composer-in-Residence for Company | E and a graduate of Howard University himself. Mr. Brockington has been making music with Mr. Jones and Company | E since 2000. “It’s amazing to be working with a new voice in the dance world in honor of Matt’s sister. Matt and I have worked together now for nearly a quarter of a century, and this is such an elegant way to keep Liz’s memory alive,” notes Mr. Brockington. 

Ms. Leak is joined in creating for the LCJMC by Clifton Brockington, who is Composer-in-Residence for Company | E and a graduate of Howard University himself. Mr. Brockington has been making music with Mr. Jones and Company | E since 2000. “It’s amazing to be working with a new voice in the dance world in honor of Matt’s sister. Matt and I have worked together now for nearly a quarter of a century, and this is such an elegant way to keep Liz’s memory alive,” notes Mr. Brockington.  

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WATCH PASSENGER IN PERFORMANCE

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INITIAL FIVE-YEAR COMMISSION 

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The Liz Cherry Jones Memorial Commission is funded initially for five years by Mr. Jones, with the goal of creating a larger sustaining program for more than one artist per year and stretching indefinitely into the future . “My sister was a person whose eye was always rooted firmly both in the future and in the past,” concluded Mr. Jones. “She understood clearly that we must know where we have been if we are to have a chance to create a path for where we seek to go. I know she would be proud to have her name associated with one of the nation’s great institutions of higher learning and Historically Black Universities.” 

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LIZ CHERRY JONES

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Elizabeth “Liz” Cherry Jones (April 28, 1955 - August 1, 2017) was a longtime art teacher for Albermarle County elementary schools, textile artist, local historian and Angora goat farmer. She also played piano and loved to sing and dance. 

She was a passionate advocate for the importance of teaching artistic expression in all its forms to people of all ages - especially children - as an essential element of building critical cognitive and social skills such as problem solving, cooperation, self-worth, and empathy. 

Liz taught art for the Albermarle County School District beginning in 2002, working at Broadus Wood and Scottsville Elementary Schools. “Liz was an incredible member of our division's instructional team for nearly two decades,” said Sharon Wilcox, Principal of the Scottsville School. 

“Her enthusiasm and pure joy for the creative energies and imaginative work of children met the highest calling of our profession.” Although Liz herself was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, where her father was a public school teacher and her mother, a nurse, she spent many summers on her family’s property before relocating there in the 1980s. 

Liz felt a deep affinity for the region and her African American family’s 150-year-old farm in Blenheim, VA, painstakingly tracing her family’s long history there -- which on her father’s side, extended back through the Souther and Lewis families to the post-Civil War period. 

She collected documents, photos and oral histories of her ancestors and their neighbors with the intention of telling their stories. Some of her artwork explored that history, using silk screening and relief printing on paper and fabric to recall colonial Americana, a time when wool was a work of art and technique triumphed over speed. She also hand-spun and dyed yarn from her own Angora goats. 

In her early years in the Charlottesville, VA region, she also demonstrated spinning and weaving at Thomas Jefferson’s historic home, Monticello. Liz earned a long list of academic degrees, prestigious fellowships and awards, including a Bachelors’ and two Masters’ degrees, multiple mural projects for the City of Philadelphia, and serving on the Virginia Commission for the Arts, with Charlottesville’s McGuffey Art Center and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

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