Past event
- Genres
- Theater, Dance
- Dates
- Mar 24, 2022 to Mar 26, 2022
- Related
- Program Notes (pdf)
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About
Presented as part of The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Series
Try/Step/Trip is a spoken word, multi-character musical performed in the body through the language of step dance. The story follows the journey of an anonymous narrator as he re-imagines his experience in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. Inspired by Brathwaite’s own history, Try/Step/Trip layers characters, poetic verse, and dialogue over music to create a theatrical piece that blurs the lines between hip-hop and dramatic performance. Try/Step/Trip emerges from the belief that the subjugation of Black people is an American ritual; that the criminal justice system now functions as a normalized rite of passage for too many young Black males. Dahlak Brathwaite is the writer/composer, Roberta Uno is the director, choreography is by Toran X. Moore, with assistant choreography by FreddyRamsey, Jr., and orchestration and additional composition by Teak Underdue.
“His presence is breathtaking, and chilling…ripping through your mind with just a microphone.”
—
Sacramento News & Review
This REDCAT presentation of Try/Step/Trip is made possible in part by support from the NPN/VAN Artist Engagement Fund. Major contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency).
Originally developed, commissioned and made possible by CalArts Center for New Performance. Critical support for the work has been through residencies at CalArts Center for New Performance. Try/Step/Trip was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Try/Step/Trip is a National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Youth Speaks, Inc. in partnership with The Living Word Project, a fiscally sponsored project of Intersection for the Arts, CalArts Center for New Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Miami Light Project and, NPN/VAN.
