About
This is a move. This is a deep spinal curve on top of a high booty. This is a game, and the rhythm is key. This is luminous black and smooth brown and hard yellow skin tones. This is an alien, and that is a fairy. This is a movement; we did not start it. This is a stomp through the floor, and a buck across the universe. This is an invitation for you to amplify the respect, curiosity, and love you find in our shared space. This is exquisitely normal. This is so queer, it’s inside out. This is a show for the family, with nudity and sexual themes. This is rigorous beauty. This is a formation.
THIS IS A FORMATION is the latest project in the LET ‘IM MOVE YOU series and is a performance work being designed to tour to sidewalk and alleyway sites within historically Black neighborhoods, institutional art spaces, and queer niteclub spaces. The project is the only larger group project in the current series, bringing together 7 Black dancers, a DJ, and a lighting designer as performers for the work. Audiences travel within performance spaces with relative freedom, sharing the same spaces as performers. Live captured video design elements will focus on close-up capture of the performers to reference both hyper-surveillance of Black people’s bodies, and pop-star scale megalomania.
Project Credits
artistic direction by jumatatu m. poe
choreography and styling by jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham
performance by Jermone Donte Beacham, jumatatu m. poe, LaKendrick Davis, Maria Bauman-Morales, Nikolai McKenzie, Sanchel Brown, William Robinson
sound, text and vocal compositions by jumatatu m. poe
sound design and DJ performance by Zen Jefferson
video installation by Mx. Oops
lighting design and technical direction by Juan “Coel” Rodriguez
panel design and costume consultation by Precious Lovell
provocation by Thomas F. DeFrantz
ethical artistry guidance by Shani Akilah; additional workshop support from Abdul-Aliy Muhammad
conversation* moderation and commissioned writing** by Jasmine Johnson
conversation* participation by Deborah Smith, Evelyn Davis-Poe, Zizwe Poe
producing and tour management by Marýa Wethers
website design and project marketing management by PURPOSE Productions – website: Denise Shu Mei; digital marketing: Matthew Dicken and Melanie Greene
marketing and archival images by Tayarisha Poe
performance video documentation by Darren Wallace
series logo by khaleel ( @khaleelartt )
project zine design by Danae Mobley
text translation by Nefertiti Charlene, simon courchel
Thank you to Yeman Brown for his participation in the creative process of this work. Thank you to Black queer youth (younger than us), peers, elders, and ancestors who hold our hands while we practice life alongside others. And thank you to the Black femme innovators, whether in the HBCU stadiums or on the gay club floors, who graced the world with this intricate form.
*creators jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham participated in a public conversation with their parents, moderated by Jasmine Johnson, as part of the events connected to the premiere of the work
**Jasmine’s writing was supported through an initiative of the Mellon Foundation organized through jumatatu m. poe’s choreographic residency at MANCC
Funding Credits
The creation of Let ‘im Move You: This is a Formation was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage; The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund co-commissioned by Painted Bride Art Center in partnership with Bates Dance Festival, Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre DBA BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Abrons Arts Center/Henry Street Settlement, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Dance Place, PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art), and NPN/VAN; Independence Foundation; and the Sacatar Foundation.
The development of Let ‘im Move You: This is a Formation was made possible, in part, by the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University. Production residency funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts’National Dance Project, with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional production support and residency provided by EMPAC/Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Additional residency support provided by South Dallas Cultural Center.
About the series Let ‘im Move You
Let ‘im Move You is a series born from the artistic relationship between artists jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham. The series centralizes J-Sette performance form and culture to address the artists’ search for satisfaction and subversion within J-Sette’s team-oriented call-and-response structure. While the artists see performance as an opportunity to communicate across various cultural distinctions, they see their work as chiefly in conversation with other Black queer alien artists.
Header Image Photo Credit: Tayarisha Poe
