BUFU presents "HERE ON OUT" in Bushwick

Curator Ali Rosa-Salas's HERE ON OUT--part of July's BUFU events*--drew an ebullient crowd to Bushwick's Secret Project Robot bar and small performance space. One night only, it was one of those events that compel your presence and, clearly, a lot of dance's smartest and coolest read the memo. The ever-loving MTA did not, however, but that problem was deftly handled, last minute, by pushing the announced start time back a half-hour.

Due to illness, I made an early exit and missed the final performer, Jonathan Gonzalez, but I was there when the little dance party gave way to a solo by FLEXN and FLEXN Evolution star Shelby Shellz Suzie Q Felton--whose uncommonly bendy body surfaces a world of enthralling characters and drama. Felton was followed by a duet by Angie Pittman and Lily Bo Shapiro. Pittman and Shapiro made good use of the dim, crowded room by commandeering space for whatever their willful bodies chose to be, for however they chose to move in ways that question the conventionally functional way we humans are socialized to regard and move our bodies. Pittman maneuvered herself like popping corn. Shapiro sloshed and buried herself in darkness and oozed through the audience. And first both and then Pittman alone repeatedly galloped between two doors accented by powerful sound and a dash of lantern light. Sitting on the floor or on the precious-few benches, we often had to scoot feet and butts out of the way of this toomuchness crashing our shoreline. And it was kind of fun.

As for Gonzalez--always a surprising and striking performer--I hope to catch up with him at The Current Sessions, coming up in mid-August at the wild project. NIC Kay is another must-see artist presenting work in this series. For information on The Current Sessions, click here.

*****

HERE ON OUT has concluded.

*FUBU identifies itself as "a collaborative living archive centered around pan)Black and (pan)Asian cultural and political relationships. We, the founders of this   project, are a collective of queer, femme and non­binary, Black and East­Asian artists and organizer. Our goal is to facilitate a global conversation on the   relationship between Black & Asian diasporas, with an emphasis on building solidarity, de­centering whiteness, and resurfacing our deeply interconnected and complicated histories." FUBU asks, "In times where institutions, programs, and organizations are being de­funded and unsupported by the government, how can we learn to self­generate resources, support one another and help each other thrive?" For information on FUBU's activities, click here.

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