Land of the Free: A Dance Theater Offering

Land of the Free is a dance-theater work created by Brooklyn-based choreographer and somatic movement practitioner Imogene Williams. Through movement, text, and sound, the piece traces her family’s experience supporting her brother through a twenty-five-year prison sentence—beginning when he was charged as a minor—and expands outward to examine the human cost of the prison industrial complex.

Blending documentary gesture, ancestral memory, and improvisation, Land of the Free invites audiences to witness both the pain and the resilience that emerge when love endures across walls. The performance will be followed by a community talkback featuring local organizations working toward decarceration, mental health care, and healing justice. Featured organizations include H.O.L.L.A!, Freedom Agenda and Drama Club and panel discussion will be moderated by King Downing, program director for AFSC's New York Healing Justice program. Together panelists will reflect on the systems that create cycles of incarceration and share ways audiences can engage in change—from supporting reentry programs to advocating for youth and families.

Part ritual, part conversation, this event creates space for embodied reflection and collective imagination—a call to move toward liberation, care, and accountability in our communities.