Artists Reach Out: Monstah Black

Dear friends,

Welcome to Artists Reach Out: reflections in a time of isolation. I dreamed this series of interviews out of grief for my work both as a documenting arts writer and curator of live performance. In this time of social distancing, we are called to responsibly do all we can to safeguard ourselves and our neighbors. It is, literally, a matter of life and death.

But there's no distancing around what we still can share with one another--our experiences, thoughts, wisdom, humor, hearts and spirit. In some ways, there are more opportunities to do so as we pull back from everyday busyness out in the world and have time to honor the call of our inner lives.

So, let me introduce you to some artists I find interesting. I'm glad they're part of our beautiful community, and I'm eager to engage with them again (or for the first time) in years to come.

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

Monstah Black

Monstah Black
(photo: Lia Clay for the 2018 Queer|Art Community Portrait)

Monstah began his career as a performance artist with an emphasis on dance, costume design and music composition. He received an MFA in New Media Arts and Performance from Long Island University. He is currently one half (with his husband) of the electronic duo The Illustrious Blacks. Together they write, produce, record and perform internationally their original music.

Awards include Open Call The Shed NYC recipient, The Tom Murrin Performance Award, Franklin Furnace Fund, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, American Music Center Live Music for Dance and NYSCA.  He has garnered support from New York organizations including Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, The Field, Movement Research and New York Live Arts. Publications include New York Magazine, Billboard Magazine, Paper Magazine and The New York Times.

Monstah is a Queer Arts Mentorship and Yaddo fellow as well as a Long Island University New Media Art and Performance, MFA.

theillustriousblacks.com


Do you have a current or planned project whose progress is affected by the pandemic?

The Illustriousblacks (Monstah and Manchildblack) have had to readjust and remix most of our plans for projects in 2020. The quarantine has allowed us to take a deeper focus.

A residency project that was a year long at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) in Queens experienced a complete remix due to COVID-19. Survival mode became re-imagining original ideas and remixing what was in our immediate surroundings. It caused me to reach beyond comfortable boundaries I’d created for myself (sound, visual and movement qualities). This is how our “Walk-in Closet” was born as a venue for Back In The Closet w/ Monstah Black.

It gave me, and continues to give me, a platform in which to share steps in the process as we build on new ideas. For JCAL, it became a direct opportunity as a marketing strategy to promote my film Cotton, screening in June.

Briefly, tell me about how you got involved in the arts and in your particular practice.

When I was a child, my parents encouraged me to practice and study all the things I showed skill in. They’re responsible for dance classes and church choir; most of my creative interests are inspired by them. Other responsible culprits would be Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Sylvester, Flip Wilson, Lola Falana, Cher and Parliament Funkadelic.

The choice to go to undergrad for Choreography/Performance at Virginia Commonwealth University sealed my destiny for becoming and staying an interdisciplinary artist.

In a more specific way, what are you practicing? And what are you envisioning? 

I am currently practicing bringing attention back to my rib cage and everything below it. For several years now, I’ve built tons of material and improvised structures based on my upper body, arms, fingers, facial expressions and spine articulation. The quarantine is bringing me back to a place of being more grounded, and that, ultimately, is affecting my vocal quality as well as my body.

I’m currently envisioning a life of streaming/film and television. I love performing for the camera.

How does your practice and your visioning align with what you most care about?

I care most about being able to influence and inspire younger generations to love themselves no matter how much they may feel marginalized and been told otherwise. My practice has been to reach beyond the boundaries and limitations that were put before me. I continue to do that in hopes that it inspires others to do the same.

How does your practice function within the world?

My practice (as well as The Illustriousblacks) flourishes in the idea of togetherness and joy. This is most apparent in environments where music, dance and visuals meet harmoniously (dance parties). That’s a language that is fluent in all cultures. Through music, dance and visuals our goal is to spread the idea of love and unity.

Briefly share one self-care tip that has special meaning to you now. 

Morning Movement Meditation and squats. Sorry that’s two lol.

******

DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

******

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Urban Bush Women's "Hair Parties" at 92Y Harkness

Madame C. J. Walker (1867-1919)
Hair care entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist
America's first woman millionaire

Urban Bush Women's Hair Parties is a boldly hybrid event integrating excerpts of a developing dance (premiere of Hair & Other Stories coming this spring) with a community-sharing workshop in kitchen table-like settings. I'd imagine each "audience"--surely, that's not the right word here--brings a different energy to it and ultimately determines how well it will work.

After all, the folks who participate are what it's about. Through a variety of activities, they're encouraged to remember and tell stories about things they learned, from childhood on, about beauty and grooming and to contemplate how those seminal influences affect their attitudes towards themselves and others today. It's very much about--as one of the dancer/facilitators noted--"practices that allow us to stay inside our greatness" and those that drag us far from it.

Oh, you surely know UBW, the lifework of the great, beloved Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, is a Black troupe, right? But while Hair Parties must be a blast in an all-Black gathering, its meditations on race can be useful for anyone from any culture--as was evident yesterday afternoon at 92Y's Harkness Dance Center where the presenters embraced a multicultural gathering.

Somebody here thinks they came for a show!

We're going on a journey!

A journey it was, indeed--starting with the sight of dancer Samantha Speis arranging, thoughtfully gazing upon and slightly rearranging a collection of hair care products, almost as if they were chess pieces. For me, this brief, subtle moment was amusing, a subtlety anyone caring for Black people's hair in the "natural" way will recognize. We know how much time and money we put into experimenting to get just the right products used in the right combination or sequence for the particular texture and willfulness of our hair. Tell me that's not choreography!

Dancers invited us to come together around certain agreements on how to work as a community--such as "speaking from the I"--and gave us gestural movements to anchor each agreement, in a fun way, in our bodies. We watched a dance segment depicting a Black woman suffering "hair hell" in an elevator populated first by a group of mocking Black people and then by white people whose very different attention to her hair freaked her out just as much or even more. We learned a tiny bit about the Black hair care entrepreneur Madame C. J. Walker (1867-1919), who went from being the child of enslaved parents to being the first American woman to make a million. From table to table, we performed a shared reading of lines from a letter Zollar addressed to this fascinating pioneer. And we moved with the dancers.

The party kicked up memories for many of us. I was stunned when I suddenly recalled the Breck Girl shampoo ads of the 1960s and later bonded with a white woman over these memories. These ubiquitous magazine ads were in my face--all of our faces--at a time when it would have been more useful for me to be learning about Madame Walker. Do you remember them, too?

As I left 92Y, I actually had a pleasant elevator moment when the same woman who remembered those darn Breck girls told me she'd come to the Hair Parties event terribly drained and tired and came away feeling exhilarated. This, I think, is pretty much the hallmark of an Urban Bush Woman event, and I'm glad she got that healing.

Conceived and choreographed by Chanon Judson and Samantha Speis in collaboration with the company--Du'Bois A'Keen, Chanon Judson, Courtney J. Cook, Jaimé Dzandu, Rochelle Jamila, Samantha Speis and Tendayi Kuumba

Music composed by The Illustrious Blacks (Manchildblack and Monstah Black)

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Seeking a friend for the end of the world: Monstah Black's HOT!

Clockwise from bottom left:
Shiloh Hodges, Monstah Black, Benedict Nguyen,
Alicia Dellimore and Joey Cuellar (center)
(photo: Peter Yesley)

The world is coming to an end!

(No kidding!)

So, what do you do?

Well, if you're Monstah Black, you grab your pals, slap on wigs and stilettos, shake your cocktails and throw a fabulous dance party. Hyperbolic! (the last spectacle)--running Fridays and Saturdays through July 23 for Dixon Place's 25th Anniversary HOT! Festival--takes place by the light of a mushroom cloud and suggests nothing more complicated than what a lot of us have been saying lately in the wake of one bad, unacceptable piece of news after another.

Wherever you go, there you are.

You bring to each crisis precisely who and what you are and do what you were sent to Earth (from, you know, wherever Sun Ra hailed from) to do. So, let's just get the funk on with it!

When we first meet Black and company, they most bring to mind the Wicked Witch of the West--after she's been slain by a flying house, that is. Dressing room chairs and clothing racks have already toppled, pinning them against the floor. Glittery pools of blood-like fabric spread away from their poor heads.

It's August 11, 2033, and only Tucker (Joey Cuellar) appears to have survived the fashion apocalypse, perched on a bed, curly white wig dangling from fingertips. But, like creatures arising from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" ("Midnight hour is close at hand...."), the others soon spring to life, as preoccupied as ever with their usual pursuits.

Johnnie "Cruise" Mercer's character, for instance, can't get enough of his phallic selfie stick. Really, really, really can't get enough. Others obsess over their mirrored reflections, and Black--addressing us from a balcony--frets about how to fit a huge shoe collection into one suitcase.

What's important is important. "I'm going to make sure I look good if the world is coming to an end," one dancer declares. And Black--who designed the amazing costumes--certainly made sure everyone looks smashing, not only in these clubbing outfits but also the show's brisk, cartoonish movement stylings.

A lot of disciplined teamwork went into this production, you can tell, and the creative, performance and production team is sizable and complex--even with multi-talented Black appearing numerous times in the credits. The end result is far more amusement and glamour than you'd expect from catastrophe. But, then again, that's why we have queer artists.

Hyperbolic! (the last spectacle) continues Fridays and Saturdays, July 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 at 7:30pm.  For information and tickets, click here.

Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey Streets), Manhattan
(map/directions)

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Three questions for Monstah Black

Monstah Black in the dance film, Cotton
(photo by Charles Meacham)

November 6-9, choreographer, musician and club hero Monstah Black brings to JACK the first installment of his dance film Cotton, featuring original songs and choreography, and filmed over nine months in various locations between New York City and Virginia. The 45-minute presentation features Black performing the soundtrack live (which the artist describes as "a meeting of Erykah Badu and Björk with Prince and Grace Jones, in the living room of Parliament Funkadelic"). In the film, Black employs images from slavery and the plantation as a point of departure, modifying the images into positive iconography meant to inspire, empower and rejuvenate those that have suffered its ugly legacy.

Monstah Black
(photo by Charles Meachem)

Three questions for Monstah Black

EYA: When you think back to your childhood, can you point to any strong influence on the artist you are today?

MB: As a child I was heavily influenced by television, my family and the sounds coming out of the stereo. I grew up surrounded by an eclectic mix of music which included soul, folk, rock, funk, the sounds of Catholic church and Southern Baptist church. The most memorable moments, of course, were people saying "Show us how you do that dance." It began as soon as I could hold my balance on two feet. There is also my mom's sense of style/fashion influence and her love for making clothes. Until 6th grade, she made a lot of what I wore. My dad was also great with his hands, particularly food but also enjoyed building projects. So the two of them are very evident in my work.

Those are the more positive moments. I do believe that being bullied is what turned me into Monstah Black. My desire to flip the negative into something empowering is what lead me to reach deeper in an unapologetic way with my expression in movement, music and style. Recognizing at an early age that words like punk, sissy and faggot could work to my benefit if I thought of them as words of endearment. As I grew older my belief in this grew stronger.

EYA: What challenges you most as an artist? And how do you engage with that challenge?

MB: My biggest challenge as an artist is the budget not matching the elaborate visions I have in my head. I've built a career on shaping my dreams by turning mundane objects into something opposite from what it is "suppose to be" used for and applying it to my project. The joke, back in the day, is that I was able to perform at the drop of a hat, and all I needed was dental floss and safety pins to make an elaborate costume. Every project that I do is a step toward aligning the budget with my dreams rather than the other way around. When that alignment happens? Stay tuned.

EYA: How do ideas arrive for you? And what do you first do with them when they do?

MB: I'm a dreamer. In grade school, it was seen as a downfall, a slow downfall. Parent-Teacher meetings occurred to discuss my daydreaming in class, and I still enjoy a good nap where I can drift off into never never land.

These are the places where my projects are revealed to me. I write them down or I record them. Sometimes they come in the form of a bass line, a melody, a sensation, a quality of movement or a look. Usually the sound and look are put into place first. When those two things inspire me as a whole, I close me eyes to feel how they should move, or I investigate my reflection.

There are also those moments when my movement is out of my control, the alignment of the rhythms, bass lines and melodies are harmoniously working together and film/video saves the day, to help me re-visit that place for stage.

I'm proud of being a daydreamer and I'm also proud of slowing things down, taking my time. I think it keeps you looking and feeling young. Besides, it's not as expensive as Botox or plastic surgery.

Virginia native Reginald Ellis Crump, aka Monstah Black, has been creating and presenting work in New York from since 1999 as a performance artist, dancer, choreographer, musician and composer. Known for his cultural grab-bag approach, he enjoys mixing influences and allusions from many sources and traditions. In choreography, he infuses modern dance with shades of disco and funk and the comic, hyper-performative and sometimes confrontational style of address of burlesque, adding a dash of various martial arts and the expressive slow-motion acrobatics of Japanese Butoh. He has choreographed for nightclubs, art galleries, black box theaters, and warehouses throughout Washington D.C., New York City, and Europe. His work has been seen and heard at The National Theater, New York Live Arts, Dance New Amsterdam, Dixon Place, Movement Research, and many other venues. Monstah is also the front man for his band The Sonic Leroy as well as vocalist for the electro pop duo The Blakz. He performs frequently as a guest vocalist for the electro dance band Girls Like Bass.

See Monstah Black's dance film, Cotton, Thursday-Saturday, November 6-8 at 8pm or Sunday, November 9 at 3pm. Get more information and tickets here.

JACK
505 1/2 Waverly Ave (between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue), Brooklyn
(map/directions)

Collage of cultures in the work of Iona Rozeal Brown

Iona Rozeal Brown: Single Works With Myriad Influences
by Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, February 22, 2013

10*10*10: Celebrating TOPAZ ARTS

TOPAZ ARTS celebrates its 10th anniversary!

Includes performances by Monstah Black, Molissa Fenley & Dancers and Paz Tanjuaquio with a reading by Carl Hancock Rux, a film short by Todd Richmond

also literary luminaries Luis H. Francia, Queens Poet Laureate Paolo Javier
and the opening of a solo exhibition of new paintings by Roy Fowler

Hosted by Christalyn Wright

The event continues with DecadeDance! featuring music compilations by
guest DJs Bruce Tantum and Niles Ford

TOPAZ ARTS
55-03 39th Avenue
Woodside, Queens

Information and directions

Tickets

Leichter rocks his Joyce debut

I know a thing or two or two thousand about "As" and "Another Star"--a couple of back-to-back numbers from Stevie Wonder's 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. Mainly, I know what it's like to slap that vinyl down, play these two songs to smithereens and, further risking delirium, try to make a dance to them, too.

"As" starts off as typically smooth, bubbly Stevie before the man shifts into his hard-pumping roaring, and moralizing, mode. In Free the Angels (2001), choreographer Nicholas Leichter and his company members and guests get the initial melodic sinuosity right, and the dancers' flowing entanglements are enjoyable. But there's something obsessive about "As"--and the people who love it--and that obsessive insistence, if you're going to follow it closely, doesn't allow a lot of room. So, after a while, the dance becomes an exercise in finding ways to throw dancers together just to visualize the rhythm. The inventive Leichter manages to make it through "As," starting fine but with diminishing effectiveness. We soon see that there's little new to learn about Wonder's music here as it stretches on and, since the dancers are completely at its mercy, all we learn about them is that they sweat really hard for Leichter.

I used to love how "Another Star" starts up with absolutely no break after "As." Breathless! But it's impossible--just impossible--with a manic, even angry rhythm even more driven than "As." Watching Leichter's troupe work through this number, I began to hear something that bothered me. Wonder's music, although upbeat, sounded flat, compressed, tight, airless. The choreographer seemed to lose control of making movement and the overall stage picture creatively interesting, instead bowing even more to the music's dictates and to an audience's desire for more and more spectacle.

And, believe me, last night's Joyce audience desired and ultimately rewarded the spectacle. These dancers--of which, tall, watery, gorgeously guesting Will Rawls was the most unforgettable--danced the hell out of the song. Can't argue with that.

Let me say it another way: Leichter is blessed in dancers. He is, himself, a brilliant one. And now he has a crew that matches his own ability to make us sit up and take notice. His choreography, though, which often draws heavily from youth culture and has accessible, popular pizzazz, could use some substance, some sense that it is about and drawing on something of consequence. It's time.

So, along comes Killa, Leichter's world premiere, an ensemble working eight segments to music by MIA, Basement Jaxx, Lionrock and Monstah Black. Black--in a singing, dancing Trickster role--appears to preside over the piece. I'm impressed by the look and lyrics of his initial man-hopelessly-caught-in-a-huge-web number. I love his subsequent bust-out flamboyance--particularly how he bravely and quite skillfully prowls and prances atop the hoof-like wedges strapped to his feet. Killa is colorful, tuneful, marvelously danced by the company and guests, and that will be enough for most viewers. But, I have to say, I wish I came away with a stronger sense of Leichter's intention, of some emphasis and coherence. What's going on here, aside from crowd-tickling flash? Does Black's character--and his relationship to the other performers--have meaning? A meaning that we should understand and care about?

See nicholas leichter dance at The Joyce Theater, Friday, June 26 (8pm) and Sunday, June 28 (2pm and 7:30pm).

Information and ticketing