The Crossroads Project

“Crossroads was built from my love of 3 things: my rural Virginia roots, New York City, and the transformative power of dance. Recognizing that three such different things elicit the same feeling of home within me led me to create a project that defines home as something we all share and that inside this universal experience is a power to unite that is greater than the geographic and cultural divides that often polarize us.” 

–Shannon Hummel 

Crossroads is the most in-depth initiative within The Fellowship Project, designed to connect diverse communities—primarily teens and young adults across the nation’s rural and urban divide—by exploring the question: What is home?

Crossroads begins with intensive multi-day workshops led by Shannon Hummel and members of SH/CD. During projects in which multiple communities participate simultaneously, each local cohort engages in movement, storytelling, writing, and reflection sessions, building trust between participants, encouraging vulnerability, and generating dance-theatre material that investigates home within each locality. Cohorts collaboratively create an original performance reflecting these investigations for fellow community members and, in more expansive projects, come together in person, intersecting multiple groups to engage in meaningful dialogue and build on a co-created final performance. These final works embody the understanding and empathy formed across geographic, cultural, and social lines, fostering a deeper sense of connection to one another and to the broader idea of how we can peacefully, productively share a sense of home in America. Through joyful, participant-led creation and exchange, Crossroads breaks down stereotypes, de-stigmatizes identity, and builds lasting bridges between communities, offering an authentic and hopeful path toward unity in a divided time. 

The 2025 Crossroads Project is facilitated by Founder and Professional Company & Mobile Programs, Director Shannon Hummel and Cora Dance company and faculty members. For information about how The Crossroads Project can be a part of your studio, school, organization, or community, email company@coradance.org.

Past Crossroads Projects:

Below are a examples of Crossroads Projects developed during COVID that resulted in virtual productions taking place in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC; Lewisburg, WV; and Petersburg/Richmond, VA. Facilitators: Junie Marsh and Shannon Hummel. Original music by Cora composer, Hans Bilger. All footage for video projects is shot by youth participants and edited in collaboration with the facilitators.