Photographer Javeon Butler
Four weeks of rehearsals all came down to this moment. The crowd, so large it spilled out of the Gobi Tent, chanted “Tobe, Tobe, Tobe!” The roar of their collective voices was barely loud enough to drown out the pounding of Hannah Thomas’ heart. Hannah, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, struck a pose on stage, the band started to play, and rapper Tobe Nwigwe turned to the crowd and said, “You're about to have one of the biggest, Blackest, boldest experiences in the Coachella Valley.”
Photographer Justin Stewart
What came next was a 45-minute celebration of Tobe Nwigwe’s music. Moving in sync with him, Hannah and the Black Angels Collective danced in the mesmerizing performance. Hannah was one of the newest guest members of the group, which incorporates several styles, including hip-hop, which complements Tobe’s music. “Tobe brought in the Swag Surf, the Dougie and the Quan, so these hip-hop elements came into play,” Hannah explained.
Photographer Greg Noire
But one of the most unique signatures of the BAC is that they also integrate ballet and contemporary dance, juxtaposing the rap and hip-hop music. Hannah says this dichotomy illustrates a cornerstone of Blackness.
“We can be anything we want to be,” Hannah says. “Having a Black experience is not being pigeonholed. We can rap, do ballet, contemporary, and perform angelic pieces. But everything is in excellence, and that is really what it is about.”
This message of Black excellence ties intimately into Hannah’s research interests. Her graduate thesis, “Her Brown Body is Glory” examines sisterhood, healing, and the joy of being around all shades of Black women. “Similarly, the BAC is made up of all shades of Black women,” Hannah said. “We all had different dance backgrounds, but our journeys brought us together for the beautiful opportunity to share rehearsal space and the Coachella stage.”
She also studies the endurance of Black joy and Black faith. Offstage, Hannah has witnessed both in action as Tobe uplifts his wife and children. He includes them in his process, and they often come to performances, his wife sometimes rapping alongside him. “If you book me for a show and I can’t bring my wife and my kids I’m leaving,” Tobe raps in one of his songs. “To be able to see that experience that as a Black woman who wants to have a family that supports the arts and uplifts love, celebration, that was really awesome to be around,” Hannah said. The messages of Black faith come through in his lyrics, and those values are also emulated in his daily life as a practicing Christian.
Hannah first fell in love with the mission and impact of the Black Angels Collective when she watched this video, documenting the behind-the-scenes process of producing a music video for Tobe’s song, “Father Figure.”
“I was entranced by the care that went into the cinematography and the filming,” Hannah recalled. “I also direct dance films, so I wanted to learn more about what they're doing.” As an extra in two music videos, FYE FYE and Mini Me in 2021 and 2022, respectively, she watched how Tobe worked with his team. “I fell in love with the symbiosis between Tobe and Carmen, the choreographer,” she said. “I admired the trust he had in her vision and the way that they would work together to create visuals that are lasting, impactful, and iconic.”
In March, she took a chance and auditioned to be a member of the Black Angels Collective. She was offered a spot and rehearsals for their Coachella performance were set to begin the following week. They were scheduled to last for one month, cutting into the school quarter. She immediately sat down to start putting together an asynchronous plan for her students. She sent it off to the School of Music and Dance dean and department head and received their blessing. “When you want to do something, you can't afford to have somebody else try to work your problems out for you,” Hannah said. “You have to give them solutions, not a problem.”
That is a lesson she has taught her students since coming back from the music festival. She also hopes to instill confidence in her SOMD students after she took a risk to go for what she wanted. “Bet on yourself!” she exclaimed. “Say yes! I have a couple of seniors who are about to go into the world of dance in some capacity and I am hoping that I inspire them to take a leap of faith.”
She also returned to Eugene reinvigorated as an instructor. While she assumes the role of choreographer in the classroom, her experience as a professional dancer will now inform the way she teaches her students. “I'm going into rehearsals with my students with a different understanding of what it means to be a choreographer, what it means to set your dancers up for success, and how to build community off the bat to get them to the best place possible,” she said. “I'm taking all I learned from my Coachella experience into my pedagogy.”
You can watch the full Coachella performance that took place on April 14, 2023, below.