Chezale Rodriguez of ChezSpirit wearing a long olive green dress in a wheelchair. She reaches for the sky with her arm through her fingertip, in the middle of a desert backdrop, with beautiful mountains and blue sky.

First Friday, Free Events

First Friday | The Transformational Power of Movement & Art: Facing the Sun Together

January 2, 2026
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Heard Museum

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First Friday
FREE Admission

Kick off the new year with a free evening of community, movement, and creativity!

In collaboration with ChezSpirit and Diverse Dance Arts, join Chezale Rodriguez (Taino) and Wade Antonio Colwell (Rarámuri) in FACING THE SUN TOGETHER, an interactive offering for participants of all ages and abilities to move, connect, and express their creativity.

This collective experience brings a unique cross-disciplinary intersection of dance, oral tradition, and multi-media visuals to celebrate the ancestral wisdom and medicine of Korima, “a circle of sharing,” which represents a cultural foundation of the Rarámuri people in Mexico.

The FACING THE SUN TOGETHER experience features:
– Call & Response Song
– Natural Intelligence (NI)
– Shared Power Greeting
– Language to Motion
– Dance Expression for Diverse Beings
– Community Bonding

FACING THE SUN TOGETHER will include live captioning.

In between engagements, make your way over to October Art: The Collection of Delores Browne Abelson — a new exhibition celebrating the ballerina, educator, and arts advocate who also championed Indigenous art through her New York gallery.

The Courtyard Café will be open late from 5 – 7:30 p.m. serving locally sourced products across a seasonally crafted Southwest-inspired menu.

Image credit (above): Courtesy of Chezale Rodriguez. Photographer: Wade Antonio Colwell


About Our Guests

Chezale Rodriguez and Wade Antonio Colwell, Co-Founders of ChezSpirit, are both keynote presenters, cultural educators, performance artists, MC’s, spoken word poets, songwriters, and group facilitators who have persistently and sustainably crafted these passions throughout their life spans and professional careers. Chezale is the Founder of Diverse Dance Arts and is additionally a dance educator, choreographer, and movement/healing artist for community reconnection and personal transformation. Wade is also a music curator, national education consultant and restorative practitioner that leverages creativity for sparking dialogue, strengthening intergenerational relations and uplifting collective spirit.

Image credit (left): Courtesy of ChezSpirit.

Programming Partner