As the nation's performing arts center, the Kennedy Center is a natural fit to showcase the intersection of the great American skateboarding subculture with music and art. From stage plays to orchestral works, the merging of histories is a natural phenomenon in the arts. And in Finding a Line, we will be embarking on a new exploration of our grounds here at the Kennedy Center. It will be vibrant and thrilling.

Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media is an outgrowth of my youth. As a youngster in the '80s, my brothers and I would skateboard all over Houston with our neighborhood friends. When we weren't skating, we were watching skateboard videos. These groundbreaking videos displayed skaters creating new collections of tricks. And many times, the soundtrack for these videos was jazz. Video Days features iconic street skater Mark Gonzales skating to the music of John Coltrane; two innovators speaking the same language through different mediums.

Great improvisers are known for the ability to adapt quickly. We are a peculiar phylum, able to morph into shapes and colors to fit our surroundings. Finding the line is our gift, and weaving it into the music is our passion.

Jason Moran, Festival Curator and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz

We are all moving through physical space together and making up our lives as we go. Skateboarding visually represents this idea—because it allows us to witness an individual flowing through cities, streets, and pools and reacting to them in an improvisational manner. It is this creative process of finding a line that lies at the heart of what I do.

Beyond the path of the individual, as he or she finds a line, I am interested in the way different artists influence and affect each other as they seek their own path. If we create a space where a community of many different disciplines can converge, we can all bring new ideas into form together. This becomes even more interesting when the general community surrounding the space is invited to participate. This collective of artists and community working, interacting, and improvising together creates a powerful creative environment where we all evolve.

In that spirit, I'm so very excited to be developing the Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media festival in conversation with Jason Moran, George Mason University, Cuba Skate, and the D.C. community. It is my hope that the improvisation that lies at the heart of both skateboarding and music will create new and different ideas for both communities, as well as the D.C. community itself.

Ben Ashworth, Festival Curator