Got My Wings is a new work by musician and composer Daniel Blake, choreographed by Todd Hall and Tomiko Magario, featuring eleven of WBC’s senior company dancers. Mr. Blake’s musical composition is inspired by the writings of Jarvis Jay Masters, a Buddhist practitioner who has been incarcerated and on death row in San Quentin, CA for over four decades for a crime he did not commit (read more at www.freejarvis.org). The central questioning theme of the piece is, “where do we find our freedom?” with the purpose of shining a light on the subject of prison reform and advocacy, and how creative art, education, and spiritual mentorship can make a pivotal difference in the lives of incarcerated people.

This project began in 2021with Daniel Blake’s score and collaboration with Todd Hall and the support of Bethany Arts Community. Daniel and Todd began working with WBC dancers in early November 2021, building out choreography over approximately 20 hours of rehearsals. Tomiko Magario joined the project in January, working with the dancers to finalize pieces of the ballet to complete the story’s triptych. The project was part of Bethany Arts Community’s 2022 “Season of Justice” and funded by the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Westchester. It premiered on Saturday, January 22, 2022 via a broadcast from Bethany Arts Community.

Got My Wings had its first live in-person performances on February 3, 4, and 5, 2023 in Katonah, New York, with support from the Creative Alliance Project.