Choreographer Donald Byrd discusses Greenwood, his 5th work for Alvin Ailey. (12/30/19)

Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

On May 30, 1921, an incident occurred in the elevator of a Greenwood office building. Though what actually transpired is unclear, a young Black man was arrested for attempted assault on a White teenage girl. The next day, a newspaper report about the arrest incited an armed White mob and things quickly escalated. Over the next day, the mob grew in size and burned much of the neighborhood to the ground, killing as many as 300 Black people, and leaving another 10,000 homeless. “Greenwood” choreographer Donald Byrd’s latest production for the legendary Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater revisits the events that came to be known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre through dance. On the day before the world premiere of Greenwood he joins us for a conversation on his own storied career and why he wanted to tell this particular story at this moment in history in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.