Wesley Williams, William Tyler, And Tiny House Expedition On Triad Arts Weekend

Wesley Williams

Back in 2010, Triad Arts Executive Producer David Ford met with West African dance instructor, Wesley Williams. When his class is about to begin, Wesley tells his students to take their shoes off, close their eyes, feel the ground beneath their feet, and imagine themselves across the globe, all the way… in West Africa. Wesley teaches his students various forms of traditional West Africa dancing. But it's not just about dance technique; he reveals meaning behind the dance. It's about carrying on tradition, a great part of which involves collaboration. And it incorporates all kinds of movements, everything from mimicking West African animals, to common human practices like fishing. You look around Wesley's class and you see students of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. They come together to learn, to have fun, of course, and to express themselves freely. It's a liberating experience, and it's one that makes them feel a connection to people from another part of the world. And you get a great workout, too, while you're at it. Celebration is at the heart and center of these dancing traditions.

Before teaching traditional West African Dancing, Wesley was highly regarded in the mid-80s as one of North Carolina's finest break dancers. It was a time in which he dedicated himself to representing the past, present, and future of hip hop culture. Raised in Durham, North Carolina, Wesley continues to dance, teach and compose choreography. He is a former dancer with Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, and has been teaching locally and nationally for over two decades. He is founder and director of Suah African Dance Theatre based in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

William Tyler

Technical Producer Eddie Garcia met with composer and guitarist William Tyler back in 2014. In their conversation, William shares not only his creative process, but also the ways in which it's evolved over time – from his early days as a self-taught keyboard player in the renowned Nashville-based band, Lambchops, through his initial steps in original instrumental composition, and all the way to expanding beyond a solo performance to playing at Banoroo Music Festival with a full band. Eddie and William also talk about the various components that make up his music, like his prominent finger picking, melodic tendencies, and how they interact with other elements, like experimental textures, ambient sounds. We learn about how film plays an influential role in Tyler's approach to writing, which often leaves listeners feeling as though they're hearing a soundtrack to their own lives. What started as a hobby in his late 20s, ended up surprising William as he managed to develop his own voice and vocabulary both in guitar and as a composer - something many aspiring composers seek to achieve.

Tiny House Expedition

Associate Producer Bethany Chafin has been following the journey of two individuals who, together in 2014, set out to do something big, yet quite small…tiny, in fact. Alexis Stephens and Christian Parsons are a couple who came across what is increasingly known as the Tiny House Movement. They began to explore this movement and found out it was dynamic and multifaceted, and the more they learned about this minimalistic approach to living in a house, they soon discovered something beyond simply, well, living simply. They realized a potential to help others redefine for themselves what living in a house can mean.

Combining their individual skill-sets – in production, filmmaking and more – Alexis and Christian developed what they now call the Tiny House Expedition. It's a project that involved building a mobile tiny home. They're traveling and exploring tiny house communities across the US, talking to people who embrace tiny house way of life, and documenting the stories they hear and the experience as a whole via film. Here's Bethany speaking with them back in 2014 as they began to build their tiny house and prepare for the trip.