LDIF22 Programme Notes Maya Taylor and Yinka Esi Graves

Image Credits: Yinka Esi Graves by Migueal Angel Rosales

THE DISAPPEARING ACT YINKA ESI GRAVES La Lala's Welcome Inspired by the 19th century acrobat and circus artist Olga Brown, depicted in the Degas painting 'Miss La La at the Fernando Circus', La Lala is the incarnation through which Yinka Esi Graves explores the idea of Crypsis in The Disappearing Act. You are invited into this exhibition space to discover what Crypsis means and entails to the artist.

The starting point for the development of The Disappearing Act was to explore an aspect of invisibility that Yinka perceived when engaging with certain sites she had navigated in her life. Sites that had historically been thresholds during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. Spaces in Spain and Portugal that bare no visible trace or recognition of the violence and trauma they were witness to, and in Ghana, Graves' ancestral home, spaces of no return, long forgotten by those forced to leave as enslaved people.

Engaging with each site through improvisation birthed a movement vocabulary with which to speak to the question of visibility and presence, subsequently Yinka developed a unique language with which to work in the stage piece.

Yinka collaborated with film maker Miguel Angel Rosales to archive these improvisations.

Together they have made 6 short films: The Coast- The Coast II- The Bridge- The ForestThe Island- The Door. They stand as witnesses to these encounters of being, history and place/space.

The Door (06:52mins) On the grounds that held the 1934 Exposicao Colonial d'Oporto (1934 Colonial Exhibition of Porto).

Concept and Dance by Yinka Graves- Filmed by Miguel Angel Rosales.

The Headdress Original beads sourced in Cape Coast Ghana, assembled and mounted by Yinka Esi Graves and Miguel Angel Rosales.

This headdress was featured and worn by the artist in the second film of The Disappearing Act film series: The Coast II. Here Yinka, facing her ancestral homeland asks: How to reattach the optics to value what has long been made un-seeable?

The Bridge and afterthought a (08:06 Mins) El Puente de San Telmo, Seville, Spain. Yinka used to cross this bridge on a daily basis. She always felt a strange downward pull as she crossed it and remembers thinking one day: I have people in this river. She later found out this was once the Puerto de Las Indias (The Port of The Indies). The port where the ships from the point of no return disembarked.

What does this place have to tell us about who is viable and so therefore visible and who is not viable and so therefore invisible?

Concept and Dance by Yinka Graves Filmed by Miguel Angel Rosales.

The Island (17:09 mins) Human zoo where the village 'representing' Guinea Bissau once stood and where it's people were made to sit on the floor, naked, all day, to be observed by Portuguese visitors as part of the 1934 Exposicao Colonial d'Oporto (1934 Colonial Exhibition of Porto).

Concept and Dance by Yinka Graves Filmed by Miguel Angel Rosales.

Voices on camouflage Thank you to all those who lent their voices and personal experiences in response to this question: What blending techniques have you found yourself using to improve your chances of survival in given environments or at specific times in your life?

We would love you to also leave us your own testimony before leaving the exhibition, making you a part of the fabric of this work. Thank you!

Credits Images: Featuring Yinka Esi Graves by Miguel Angel Rosales Text Credits: Yinka Esi Graves

SHAPE | SHIFTER Shape | Shifter is a new work by American choreographer, Maya Taylor, exploring the strain she has often felt to assimilate as a mixed race woman. The solo unravels and illuminates Taylor’s journey as she works to defy the echo chamber of perceptions that have haunted her from adolescence to womanhood. Throughout the work she searches for a renewed, selfactualised version of herself with a clear sense of identity, created on her own terms.

Maya Taylor is a choreographer and movement director working in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and New York City. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she began her dance training at a very young age and shortly moved to NYC to pursue her love of dance at the prestigious Ailey School. After dancing professionally for many years, Maya began to create her distinct blend of movement that has skyrocketed her career throughout film, tv, fashion, and the stage. Maya’s choreography has made significant contributions to the incredible visions of Solange Knowles, Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, and St. Vincent. Her work on Solange's 'Almeda' earned her a 2019 VMA Nomination for Best Choreography. Maya's other credits include movement direction and choreography for Calvin Klein, Burberry, MAC Cosmetics, Kérastase, Rémy Martin, Ivy Park, and Collina Strada. She has been named as one of DANCE Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2020 and has been nominated for a 2021 World Choreography Award for her work with MAC Cosmetics Jeremy Phipps is a trombonist, songwriter, and producer from New Orleans, LA. His introduction to music was with the esteemed marching band of Mcdonogh 35 High School.

Some of Phipps' career highlights include performing on Saturday Night Live and playing at the Sydney Opera House while backing Solange on her Seat At the Table tour, playing Red Maya Taylor Rocks Amphitheater with Griz, touring with indie-rock band Rubblebucket and collaborating with countless other artists. Phipps has performed internationally at North Sea Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, and Primavera. In his hometown, Jeremy co-leads an art pop band named Poetry Cubs the Poet People Museum which was recently featured on NPR's Tiny Desk Contest Desk of the Day Mus Jeremy Phipps 2020.

Christian "Cubs The Poet" Davenport started typing custom poems in the French Quarter in De Lima 2011. Starting at the humble beginnings of donationDiogo base Cubs now types custom poems at weddings, funerals, and any event in between. He started his publishing company Poetry Still Matters LLC and creates one of a kind custom books of Poetry. Currently working on his first poetry album called, SOUL STUDY, Cubs plans to incorporate paintings, interviews and jazz musicians to this project. He currently lives in Algiers Point, Louisiana with his two daughters and partner. When not writing poetry or painting Cubs sips coffee by the river.

Image Credits: Diogo De Lima

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Leicester. Serendipity’s mission is to centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, embedded as part of cultural experiences for all. Serendipity’s programmes include the flagship dance festival, Let’s Dance International Frontiers, Black History Month Leicester and the Annual Windrush Day Lecture. Serendipity have established a legacy; hosting a growing living archive documenting Black arts, heritage and culture, publishing the voices of Black arts practitioners and community activists, nurturing artists to create high quality new work and mentoring young people.

Let's Dance International Frontiers Launching each year on 29 April, to celebrate International Dance Day, LDIF brings diversity to the forefront in dance with a two week festival showcasing new work from local emerging talent to internationally acclaimed companies. Showcasing high quality dance that celebrates diversity and intersectional identities, to date has supported the work of 280 artists from over 46 countries The theme for LDIF22 is In Situ: Responding to to Space, Place, People and Time.

Unearthed: Forgotten Histories Unearthed: Forgotten Histories, seeks to make a structural difference to the recording, documentation and sharing of Black history and heritage in the UK, and to give back hidden histories for everyone to share. Serendipity will create a digital living archive that encompasses the history of the African and African Caribbean communities across this region, amplify the historical picture and tell stories from a different perspective. Alongside this, Serendipity will lead on Young Archivists, an accredited training programme aimed at young people from diverse communities who are currently under-represented in the heritage sector, to learn from heritage experts. Educational resources, events and exhibitions are also planned with volunteers given training to develop skills and support the collection and preservation of oral histories and archival material.

Black Digital Dance Revolution Black Dance Digital Revolution is a nationally significant project working with regional partners; Serendipity (Leicester), Northern School of Contemporary Dance (Leeds), Dance City (Newcastle), Dance Umbrella (London) and beyond. Drawing on the dance heritage of these four cities to develop a touring exhibition and online interface, alongside the creation of a short dance films, accompanied by CPD opportunities, workshops and artist led residencies, commitment to access and underserved communities.

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