Part of jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham’s decade-long collaborative research into J-Sette performance, Intervention activates histories of predominantly and/or historically Black neighborhoods, as it uses rhythm and precision as vehicles into subversion and satisfaction.
On sidewalks and in alleyways, jumatatu and Donte draw on J-Sette’s call-and-response structure to reveal the powerfully singular expression that can emerge within this highly regimented dance. J-Sette originated among drill teams and majorette lines of historically Black southern universities and continues to grab the attention of half-time stadium crowds—while having found a second life, and new political meanings, in the Black gay club scene. Performance routes are announced only hours before their intervention, freeing the performers to agitate the boundaries of propriety and belonging, and confront the historic imaginations and limitations of these spaces. Intervention is a performance project in jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham’s Let ‘im Move You series.
