Where there is fire. There is truth.
AVA’S ROOM: WHERE SPIRITS REST
An intimate residency showing by Dionne M. Robinson
THE REEF (1933 S Broadway)
November 22, 2025 between 5:00PM - 8:00PM
Before the fire, there is the room.
Hidden in the basement of a Harlem brownstone, AVA’s Room is both a sanctuary and a secret. It is where she thinks, dreams, and wrestles with the weight of her past. It is where she hides the parts of herself she is not ready to show - and where the spirit of her late grandmother visits when the world grows too heavy to bear.
In this sacred space, the boundaries between the living and the ancestral blur. Thoughts become prayers. Shame becomes reflection. Stillness hums with the promise of transformation.
AVA’s Room: Where Spirits Rest offers audiences a rare glimpse into AVA, a black woman’s private world - the quiet before the flame, the space before everything changes. This special installment is part of the 2025 CalArts Reef Residency and serves as a preview of the upcoming staged reading of AVA on FIRE.
This showing invites you to listen closely - to what lingers in the walls, what moves in the silence, and what still burns beneath it all.
AVA: A BLACK WOMAN IN TRANSIT
AVA: A BLACK WOMAN IN TRANSIT
Join us for AVA: A BLACK WOMAN IN TRANSIT!
Come to The Reef on October 11, 2025 between 7:00 PM and 8:30PM for an evening celebrating the journey of Ava, a black woman navigating seeing and being seen . Get ready for an inspiring and thought-provoking experience!
An immersive exhibit exploring movement, memory, and the Black feminine body in transit. Through performance, film, and installation, AVA: A Black Woman In Transit continues the journey of AVA on FIRE, expanding her story beyond the stage into living space — one that breathes, remembers, and transforms.
Mark your calendars and get ready for a night to remember! See you there!
The train will run October 11, 2025 between 7:00 PM and 8:30PM (PT) every nine minutes!
Co-Directors: Sarahjeen Francois, Tamara McMillian
Performed By: Dionne M. Robinson
Movement: Ephraim Williams
Technical Director: Jean Paul Jones
Graphic Design: Valeria Costa
*Special Thanks To Cameron Masters
AVA on FIRE
AVA on FIRE, the first of a trilogy, is an original show written and performed by Dionne M. Robinson. It is a story in five parts. It displays the journey of a twenty something year old black woman from the South living in Harlem, New York. After she experiences a building fire, her life is turned upside down. Or was it ever right side up to begin with?
The audience will witness a young black woman going through life. The fire, ashes, watering, greenery and golden parts of being a black woman. AVA on FIRE is rooted in personal growth, joy, love, authenticity, beauty, mysticism and so much more!
Check out some photos from the most recent staged reading of AVA on FIRE!!!
FOLLOW AVA’S JOURNEY
AVA’s story is still unfolding. The next staged reading will take place December 5th- 7th, 2025 at The Reef in Downtown Los Angeles, expanding the world first introduced in AVA on FIRE.
Meanwhile, the exhibit — AVA: A Black Woman In Transit — invites audiences to experience AVA’s transformation through performance, film, and installation.
Come back here for updates on both projects, from rehearsal moments to exhibit previews, and follow along on Instagram for behind-the-scenes clips and creative insights.