Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre brings back the popular Mélange Series! This live and interactive experience combines three artists: Vocal, Visual, Dancer; and together they inspire and create in front of a live audience in our beautiful black box theatre. The Florence is a state of the art Black box theatre, just steps away from Carmel City Center and the its dining and clubs. Mélange Series I features the powerful vocal artist Bruce Ford, with artist Kevin James Wilson, and Dancer Sophie Jones.
Mélange: concoction, mixture, combination. In this new series of performances, audiences experience art coming to life in front of their eyes in an intimate theatrical setting. Each series features three unique and talented artists of different genres. Together they create art at The Florence (Carmel’s newest black-box theatre space), in a collaborative and organic manner. This Mélange Series features a vocalist, dancer and visual artist. The dancer creates spontaneous movement inspired by the singer, as the visual artist creates spontaneous art inspired by the dancer and the music. Audiences will experience live art in a new manner, bringing groundbreaking and creative art to Central Indiana.
BRUCE FORD – Spoken Word Artist
Bruce Ford is a multi-talented artist, leader, and visionary whose influence continues to rise across stages, schools, and communities. A seasoned performer, Bruce was part of the cast of DreamGirls, The Color Purple, and The Wiz, showcasing his dynamic talent and deep-rooted passion for the performing arts. Beyond the stage, Bruce serves as the Manager of both the Maple Leaf Café and the Arts Center of Meridian Park, where he curates creative experiences and fosters a welcoming space for artistic and cultural expression. Bruce is more than just a poet or MC—he is a rising public figure whose unique perspective, authenticity, and infectious positive energy have earned him countless speaking engagements. His voice resonates across generations through his powerful character-building poetry program, “Words In Motion.” This transformative initiative has been featured in numerous schools throughout Indiana, as well as adapted for adult workshops and corporate environments, proving its broad impact and versatility. Now, Bruce is stepping into the spotlight with his groundbreaking one-man poetic performance, “The Audacity to Believe That I Am FREE.” This deeply personal stage production brings to life the many characters, adventures, and lessons that have shaped his journey, boldly affirming the power of freedom, creativity, and self-expression. With each endeavor, Bruce Ford continues to inspire communities, uplift individuals, and ignite meaningful change through art, leadership, and vision. Mr. Ford recently collaborated with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in the world premiere of “Let It Be Known”.
SOPHIE JONES – DANCER
Sophie Jones is originally from Northern Kentucky. She started her formal dance training at age 3 at MJM Studios Inc and she recently received her Bachelors Degree in Dance from Western Kentucky University in May of 2024. During her time at WKU, Sophie performed pieces by Karen Mareck, Rich Ashworth, Nathan Fister, and Shyama Iyer, alongside works by the faculty. Sophie is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, with Bharatanatyam experience. She has additional training from Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Danceworks Chicago, Noble Motion, Chicago Tap Theatre, and Salt Contemporary Dance. She teaches tap and ballet at The Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. She is looking forward to her second season with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre .
VISUAL ARTIST – KEVIN JAMES WILSON
Kevin James Wilson is an Artist from Indianapolis. God has instilled a passion within him that he has used every day of his life and that is to create art. His favorite medium is drawing with Prismacolor Pencils. Kevin attended the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design on a full scholarship. While there, he drew and presented a portrait to Muhammad Ali for the New Future Foundation and the International Year of the Child. Kevin’s work has been shown in his hometown of Indianapolis to Las Vegas including the murals he created in the world’s largest children’s museum in Indianapolis. In Las Vegas, from 1999 until 2001 his work was mainly shown in Caesars Palace. Upon returning to Indy, his focus turned to fine arts. Shows such as the prestigious Hoosier Salon , Black Creativity at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Indiana Artist Club exhibitions and The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields are among some of the juried shows where his artwork has been accepted. Kevin’s work was recently exhibited in Saks Fifth Avenue Gallery for the months February, March and July in 2021. As a college professor of graphic design, Kevin taught at International Business College in Indianapolis. This is a position he held for 25 years. He also taught drawing and airbrush at The Indianapolis Art Center for 12 years. Artists that inspired his style are Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Michael Angelo, Norman Rockwell and Joseph Holiday. The return to his real passion, which is drawing, took place in 2016. Kevin’s Prismacolor pencil drawings have been shown in the Hoosier Salon, The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, The Indiana State Fair, The Indiana Artist Club and The Richmond Museum of Fine Art. In 2016 a painting in the Gallery Forty Two exhibition “A Century of Speed.” earned him the title “World Class.” The Indy 500 presented an exciting opportunity for Kevin as he is a racing fan to the core. His piece entitled “Pit Stop” was on display at the Speedway for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, amongst 32 other artists’ work. Kevin’s drawing entitled “Jessica” was also selected by the Indianapolis Arts Council to be displayed around the city as a High Art Billboard. His piece entitled “Kings of the Castle” was displayed in a mural at Indianapolis International Airport from 2021 until 2022. One of Kevin’s most recent accomplishments was the induction into the Indiana Artist Club in 2019. He was elected President in 2022 of this elite 126 member organization, and is currently serving his second term as President. Kevin is the very first artist of color to hold this position. One of his goals is to sell his art not just locally but globally. “Art is not a way of living for me, but a way of life”. This is God’s talent. I’m just using it as “Artist…Kevin James Wilson as I pass through this world”.
The Mélange Series at The Florence has been created by GHDT, Executive Artistic Director, Gregory Glade Hancock and is presented by Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre.
