‘Joy is resistance’ at 20th anniversary Black Choreographers Festival

Rachel Howard

The crowd was overflowing at the Black Choreographers Festival’s 20th anniversary.

“This is looking like community coming out to support, so you know our hearts are full right now,” Laura Elaine Ellis said from the Dance Mission Theater stage on Saturday, Feb. 22, standing next to festival co-founder Kendra Kimbrough Barnes as latecomers squeezed into the last remaining seats and children dropped cross-legged to the floor.