Davalois Fearon: dancing for C.J. and so many others

Davalois Fearon wearing a costume from For C.J.

Davalois Fearon Dance
For C.J.
BAAD!
March 29-30

When dance artist Davalois Fearon lost her nephew to asthma, she turned mourning into action. Her work, For C.J., represents a cry against the dire health outcomes for communities--predominantly, Black and Latinx people--doubly-impacted by urban pollution and inadequate health care. Fearon, a Jamaican immigrant who grew up in the Bronx, created The For C.J. Initiative to raise awareness and spur city policymakers to address these life-threatening conditions. But she also created a dance to honor her nephew, set to music played live at BAAD! by her husband, composer Mike McGinnis (wood winds), Elias Bailey (tuba) and Jeff Hermanson (trumpet). For C.J.'s resolute symbolism even carries over into instrumentation which requires expert and sustained use of breath.

Without careful reading of Fearon's program notes, it might be tricky to figure out at first look, but her performers represent not only an asthma victim (Mikaila Ware) but also the engulfing forces of her doom (Morgan Anderson, as the medical system, and Njeri Rutherford as the environment). The minute you grasp it, though, the symbolism feels heavy and obvious. All three are dressed in extraordinary wearable art--like hair-coverings made of whole and broken plastic hair rollers--and glittery makeup, blurring distinctions between high and low, pretty and poisonous. The set, unusual costuming give the work the heightened aura of tribal ritual.

The audience gets drawn in, too. Before the piece begins, we're invited to inscribe the names of deceased loved ones on cut-out leaves and tie the stems to ropes that play a significant part in this dance. Those leaves, then, will accumulate and remain for all future performances of the piece.

Like the visual display--including Ware's grotesque, bulbous headdress constructed of something mysterious and, frankly, nauseating--choreography alternates oddity with poignancy. We end with the vision of Ware's body folded forward in yoga's child's pose, covered in a glittery, earth-dark wrapping that now kills her.

To lift the energy, then, the choreographer and her dancers return to celebrate the life and spirit C.J. with the exuberance I remember of forceful, high-flying Fearon dancing for choreographer Stephen Petronio.

Concept, choreography and artistic direction: Davalois Fearon
Collaborating dancers: Morgan Anderson, Njeri Rutherford and Mikaila Ware
Costumes, wearable sculptures and makeup: Jasmine Murrell
Set Design: Myssi Robinson

For C.J. concludes this evening with an 8pm performance. For information, click here and scroll down.

BAAD!
2474 Westchester Avenue, The Bronx
(map/directions)

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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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As Maddow would say, "The best thing in the world!"

OMG! This is such fun!

 John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal

Music by: Greg Brosofske (Minneapolis, USA based composer)

Dancers: Jessica Elhert, Bryan Godbout, Stephanie Laager, Edward Bruno Oroyan, Nelle Hens, Camille Prieux, Mariel Blaise, Gabson Nenaks, David Zagari and Marcio Canabarro

This performance originally took place at TEDxBrussels, on November 22, 2011
Information: http://www.tedxbrussels.eu

Pamela Sneed at Dixon Place's HOT! Festival

Black lesbian poet Pamela Sneed begins her monologue, America Ain't Ready, beneath the projection of a famous photo portrait of Black lesbian poet Audre Lorde. You know the one: Lorde slightly lowering the professorial, thin-rimmed glasses from her eyes, her Black Mona Lisa smile pleasant enough until you realize that she's likely about to say something America Ain't Ready for.

Pamela Sneed in "America Ain't Ready" (photo by Lisa Guido)

Lorde's revered presence hovers over Sneed throughout this marathon performance, inspiring, instigating, protecting. And Sneed needs that strength right now because, as we learn, she's performing through a world of pain. Not emotional pain--which also could be the case, of course--but physical pain from complex, enormously costly dental problems. She is an artist without health insurance in an America that ain't ready for universal single payer health care any more than it's ready to compensate artists for the intense, dedicated and crucial work that they do.

Sneed begins by reminding us that Lorde insisted that "poetry is not a luxury." It's a necessity. She invites us to imagine a world without all of the arts and artists. Her itemization of our potential losses is staggering. Here, at Dixon Place, through strain and rage, she preaches to the choir, and you want to send her to Capitol Hill to put the fear of God in those supposedly God-fearing Republicans (and some Democrats, too). She's the woman for the job. And, while we're talking job--damn it--if you ever ask Sneed, or any artist, to do a job, be sure to pay her for it. 

America Ain't Ready, adapted from a book-length epic poem, diagnoses perhaps a few too many things that ail this society. However, Sneed's performance, as real as it can get, sears its way into your consciousness. Her aim: To wake up as many people as possible before it is too late to achieve the America in which she still believes. We all have work to do.

Hot! Festival 2011--Dixon Place's 20th Annual NYC Celebration of Queer Culture--continues through August 6 with a mix of "theater, dance, music, burlesques, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family." Find out more and make ticket reservations here.

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

Eating disorders: the financial toll

Treating Eating Disorders and Paying for It
by Lesley Alderman, The New York Times, December 3, 2010

Remembering the edge

Writing on the Edge: 

Great Contemporary Writers on the Frontline of Crisis

Edited by Dan Crowe; photos by Tom Craig

Published by Rizzoli (2010)

Armenia (c)Tom Craig

A collection of 14 first-hand accounts of life inside conflict zones where Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical care. The book takes readers on a harrowing tour of countries in crisis, profiling people struggling to cope with war, disease, and lack of access to basic health care.

Sudan (c)Tom Craig

I'm grateful to 92nd Street Y and moderator Bob Woodruff (ABC News) for introducing us, last evening, to award-winning photographer Tom Craig in an event highlighting Writing on the Edge and the resourceful humanitarian work of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), work requiring ethical clarity, a pragmatic balancing act and tons of courage.

Assam (c)Tom Craig

Besides Craig, Writing on the Edge's contributors include director-producer Danny Boyle (Trainspotting; Slumdog Millionaire), novelists Martin Amis (The Rachel Papers; Money; Time's Arrow), Damon Galgut (The Good Doctor) and Joanne Harris (Chocolat), actor Daniel Day-Lewis and many other essayists.

Here are some excerpts about experiences in Burundi, Uzbekistan and Armenia.

For further information, click here.
To purchase, click here.

For information on Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, click here.

Connect with the wide-ranging programs of 92nd Street Y here.

World AIDS Day with Sonia Sanchez and Ronald K. Brown

In recognition of World AIDS Day 2009, WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space welcomes poet Sonia Sanchez and choreographer Ronald K. Brown, plus a discussion of AIDS in the African-American community.

Complete information here
Tuesday, December 1 -- 7pm-9pm

Speaking from the heart

Off Broadway Play ‘Let Me Down Easy’ Tackles Issues of Death
by Gina Kolata, The New York Times, November 9, 2009

The genius of Anna Deavere Smith

Just a quick note: You're going to Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy, aren't you? The only right answer--unless you've already seen the show--is a resounding Yes!

Everyone should see this piece, especially since much of the heated debate around health care reform has been devoid of heart and soul. This brilliant performance--perhaps Smith's best, certainly her most affecting--reminds us of what's so often missing.

Let Me Down Easy runs through December 6 at 2econdStageTheatre.

Today's Louise says, "Get the job done!"

Louise’s Second Act
by Judith Warner, The New York Times, August 9, 2009

Dance for our nation's health!

One Approach to Reducing Health Care Costs: The Discipline of Dance
by Michael Kaiser, The Huffington Post, July 27, 2009

Healing the Dancer

Third Annual Healing the Dancer Seminar
June 8, 2009
10 am-1 pm

The New 42nd Street Studios
229 West 42nd Street, Manhattan

Hosted by Bebe Neuwirth
Founder of The Dancers’ Resource of The Actors Fund

And featuring key-note speaker Virginia Johnson
Newly appointed Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem

Presenters:

Sandra Foschi, Physical Therapist, Nutritionist
Bradley Jones, Psy. D., LCSW, Psychotherapist, former dancer

Guest speakers will offer insight and discussion on dancer physical and emotional wellness. Obtain information and resources for accessing health insurance and health care, financial wellness, and support from community agencies/organizations.

This seminar is FREE and open to professional dancers and those who serve them.

Contact Alice Vienneau, 212.221.7301 ext. 261 or avienneau@actorsfund.org for more information.