With just one week left of the six-week run (October 6 – November 19), the buzz about “Platform 2016: Lost and Found” curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones and Will Rawls which “…examines the impact of AIDS on generations of artists,” is still very palpable. On one bill from the one-off performances (October 15), Archie Burnett celebrated the life and legacy of Willi Ninja, on another, (October 21), choreographers Jonathan Gonzalez, Jasmine Hearn, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko and Ni’Ja Whitson were featured. Whitson’s Someone Will Have to Answer the Mail I Leave, Kosoko’s séances (excerpt), Hearn’s maythesebodiesbareknownothinogthisvacancy, and Gonzalez’s Lyric baby offered more on questions surrounding “race” today and less on the topic of HIV AIDS and survival, but each begged us to question our place. The bones falling out of large manila envelopes by Whitson, a repeating gospel song sung by Hearn that wafted through the air and Gonzalez’s overhyped character (danced by Chazz Giovanni Bruce) was just the beginning. Then there was Kosoko. He doesn’t disappoint. Here, as he often does, he brings many layers and juxtapositions to help shape his voice. The white, female inflatable doll, comforted under a blanket, to which he gives “air” during his “…exorcism…” of any European theologies, is a fine example. Yet another one-off performance titled “the skeleton of architecture, or the future of our worlds” (October 22) where Eva Yaa Asantewaa brought together 20 women movers and 1 musician, garnered a good deal of critical acclaim.
For a full weekend, “Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd” (November 3-5) was all about John Bernd, Houston-Jones’ muse for this series. Houston-Jones brought in the ineffable, yet reluctant choreographer, Miguel Gutierrez, to help with this one, but once Gutierrez begun, he confirms, “…he became obsessed.” Gutierrez and Houston-Jones with performers, Tony Carlson, Talya Epstein, Alvaro Gonzalez, Charles Gowin, Madison Krekel, Johnnie Cruise Mercer and Alex Rodabaugh, awaken Hearn’s spirit with a deeply-relevant return to the times when Hearn’s works demanded answers and put out questions. Bernd died in 1988 and the Platform title is taken from Bernd’s trio of dances entitled Lost and Found, first performed at Danspace Project in 1981. Houston-Jones and Gutierrez’s journey down memory lane, whether you know Bernd’s work or not, was current. The stillness, the raw response, and intimacy, runs deep.
What is left of this series is not to be missed: An Evening with DANCENOISE with Antonio Ramos, and Brother(hood) Dance! (November 17 -19), and “Conversation Without Walls: Two of Two,” featuring: Allied Productions (Jack Waters & Peter Cramer), Sarah Schulman, Alex Fialho, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Jaime Shearn Coan, Katy Pyle, Ali Rosa-Salas, Alex Fialho, DonChristian, Narcissister, Raja Feather Kelly, and Mariana Valencia (November 19). Find out more here
For a full weekend, “Variations on Themes from Lost and Found: Scenes from a Life and other works by John Bernd” (November 3-5) was all about John Bernd, Houston-Jones’ muse for this series. Houston-Jones brought in the ineffable, yet reluctant choreographer, Miguel Gutierrez, to help with this one, but once Gutierrez begun, he confirms, “…he became obsessed.” Gutierrez and Houston-Jones with performers, Tony Carlson, Talya Epstein, Alvaro Gonzalez, Charles Gowin, Madison Krekel, Johnnie Cruise Mercer and Alex Rodabaugh, awaken Hearn’s spirit with a deeply-relevant return to the times when Hearn’s works demanded answers and put out questions. Bernd died in 1988 and the Platform title is taken from Bernd’s trio of dances entitled Lost and Found, first performed at Danspace Project in 1981. Houston-Jones and Gutierrez’s journey down memory lane, whether you know Bernd’s work or not, was current. The stillness, the raw response, and intimacy, runs deep.
What is left of this series is not to be missed: An Evening with DANCENOISE with Antonio Ramos, and Brother(hood) Dance! (November 17 -19), and “Conversation Without Walls: Two of Two,” featuring: Allied Productions (Jack Waters & Peter Cramer), Sarah Schulman, Alex Fialho, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Jaime Shearn Coan, Katy Pyle, Ali Rosa-Salas, Alex Fialho, DonChristian, Narcissister, Raja Feather Kelly, and Mariana Valencia (November 19). Find out more here
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