Archiving Black Performance
Memory, Embodiment, and Stages of Being
Archiving Black Performance
Memory, Embodiment, & Stages of Being
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Rain
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Choreographer Bebe Miller
“Something really striking that I have noticed within the Dance Fort project and the history of Bebe’s work is the presence of statements, whether they are in movement or in text. There is always something being said, and often it’s about what is happening in the moment. Presence and attention to what is happening in the moment feels like one of the most important parts of the work and it’s what draws the audience’s attention in as well”
Kara Komarnitsky BFA 2022
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“I quickly realized the only graspable trace Vespers has left for generations to come is found through embodiment. As we breathed through recreating fleeting moments, my body was the vessel that began to connect me to Bebe’s experience. The distance between me and this performance closed only when my body was equally split between dwelling in the Barnett Theatre in Columbus, Ohio in 2022 and dwelling in the sanctuary of St. Mark’s in New York, New York in 1982”
Katie O’Loughlin MFA 2023
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“As a performer in a re-staged work, I have discovered it is easier to connect with movement and material when I am aware of how it was generated inside and outside of the body. This week it was interesting to listen to Bebe and take in how she developed the movement and what inspired her. It made me think more deeply about the degree to which the outside world effects our every day movement as dancers”
Gianna Buffano BFA 2022
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“Having the weekend residency to work on Bebe’s solo and embody the work I found the need to ask myself how this process was going to be reflected in portrayl of the solo.
When learning the solo, I found that her movements were really well suited to her body and the range of her back and legs all played a role in how she portrayed the solo. I wanted to explore how this solo would look on my body, and what parts of the solo stood out to me more, and how I could emphasize a portion of the solo, that I felt fit well with my body and movement practice.
Being able to watch, and see how my peers performed the solo was also an interesting aspect of the process. It gave me insight as to how one person may do a movement one way, while another does it completely different, but it is still important to the piece” Yasmine Morris BFA 2024
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Rain
Choreographer
Bebe Miller
Cast
Isabel Brandt
Gianna Buffano
Thaliyah Cools-Lartigue
Maddie Denman
Isaiah Harris
Forrest Hershey
Mercedes Hicks
Leila Hill
Kara Komarnitsky
Ishmael Konney
Sydney Lettau
Yasmine Morris
Andrea Moses
Katie O’Loughlin
Yukina Sato
Quianna Simpson
Theodora Vargas
Kaniya Webb
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Faculty
Professor Crystal Perkins
Professor Valarie Williams
Archivists
Forrest Hershey
Kathryn Logan
Berry Nickell
Yukina Sato
Clancee Synco
Riccardo Valentine
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