“How Do We Dance with Legacy?”

Stanford's Institute for Advancing Just Societies (IAJS) and Zócalo Public Square host the fourth and final in a nationwide series of events entitled “What Can Become of Us?” on March 11, 2026, at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University. With this series, IAJS and Zócalo, a unit of Arizona State University Media Enterprise, invite everyone to envision new perspectives on migration, America’s changing communities, and how people come together across differences. 

Inspiring performance

Generation to generation, Americans pass down cherished stories. In rumor and ritual, document and dance, these myths sustain a sense of continuity--unearthing meaning and maintaining identity as we move through history, step by step. But the personal, familial, and community tales we tell can also perpetuate harmful ideas and marginalize others. Competing stories of America that have always danced side-by-side, often contentiously, now seem in a state of battle. Can we find a shared narrative?

In this series, we've hosted events in the U.S. South, North, and East. For our final program, we head to the West--built on myths of frontier freedom and golden excess. Amid great technological, political, and cultural shifts, who choreographs the great dance of America? Which tales have we inherited, which will we pass down, and what will future generations do with them? And, as this series aims to answer: What can become of us?

This program is inspired by Durga's Daughters, an original performance created and directed by Indian American Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer, Mythili Prakash.

Panel of luminaries

Join us March 11 at Stanford's Bing Concert Hall to experience Durga's Daughters with Mythli Prakash. A panel moderated by Stanford IAJS faculty director Tomás Jiménez and featuring author, poet, and social entrepreneur Ahmed Badr; writer, filmmaker, and powwow dancer Julian Brave NoiseCat; and population geneticist and science journalist Janina Jeff Ringo will follow, exploring how the stories we tell shape our perspectives on movement and migration, and the legacy of America.

Join us online or in person! This event is free and open to the public. RSVP today.

Date

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Location

Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen Street, Stanford

Agenda

5:30 pm PT Check in

6:00 pm PT Artist Performance

7:00 pm PT Panel Conversation

8:00 pm PT Reception

We invite our in-person audience to continue the conversation with the artist, speakers, and each other at a post-event reception with complimentary refreshments and live music by the Saúl Sierra Quartet.

Cosponsored by:   
Asian American Research Center at Stanford  
Department of Theater and Performance Studies