to leave the land and [Re]member

pateldanceworks and Byb Chanel Bibene/Kiandanda Dance Theater
Thu & Fri, Jun 3-4 & 10-11, 8pm PDT at CounterPulse. Sat, Jun 5 & 12, 2pm PDT Matinee at CounterPulse. Sat, Jun 12, 2pm PDT Livestream and Artist Q&A
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Join CounterPulse as we take a voyage through lasting divides and ancestral wisdom

How is tradition alive? How does tradition move across space, time, boundaries and border? Now in it’s eleventh year, CounterPulse’s Performing Diaspora residency supports artists who draw on tradition as a radical way to carry the stories of previous lives in today’s time and space.

This June, 2021, we investigate histories of rebellions and victories, queerness, and the violence of forced migration through two groundbreaking new dance works by pateldanceworks and Byb Chanel Bibene/Kiandanda Dance Theater.

to leave the land, a project of divisions the empire has sown by pateldanceworks is a call to understand past and present colonization through movement and storytelling, informed by the Partition of South Asia in 1947 and the lasting divides it has caused across sexuality, religion, caste, class, and gender.

The evening will include movement, storytelling, sonic landscape, and immersive experience, asking the audience to become part of the performance itself. With to leave the land we open conversations about past and present colonization to empower audiences to dismantle inequitable social structures. The violence endured within our lineages is part of these queer bodies and we seek to hold and heal these stories of lost homelands and lost lives.

 A black and white image of Daria, a mixed race person with long dark hair pulled back, wearing all white, laying on his left side on a cement ledge outside facing the camera. His left arm reaches above his head and holds a solar lantern. His right arm is crossed in front of his body, resting on the ledge in front of his belly button.

Daria Garina, Photo by Kyle Adler

Next, enter a visual voyage in time that paints the tensed stories of the Black bodies resisting slavery and seeking connection with the ancestral wisdom. [Re]member by Byb Chanel Bibene/Kiandanda Dance Theater connects Black bodies via their shared history, fight for liberties, and against slavery.

The work investigates the stories of the resistance and victories of captured Africans in the slave ships and the plantations during the Trans-Atlantic trade and slavery in the Americas, with a particular focus on the prowess of Nganga Nzumbi, a maroon leader who set free an entire community.

Byb Chanel Bibene, Photo by Robbie Sweeny

Byb Chanel Bibene, Photo by Robbie Sweeny

Please join us for these special performances

Jun 3-5 and 10-12, 2021

Thu & Fri, Jun 3-4 & 10-11, 8pm PDT at CounterPulse
Sat, Jun 5 & 12, 2pm PDT Matinee with Artist Q&A facilitated by Gerald Casel at CounterPulse
Sat, Jun 12, 2pm PDT Livestream and Artist Q&A facilitated by Gerald Casel

Email [email protected] to volunteer and see the works for free!

COVID-19 Message

Our team at CounterPulse is committed to continue providing performance space as we gradually and carefully reopen, while complying with the CDC, OSHA, Federal, State, City and County regulations and recommendations. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities we are requiring that all artists, staff, and audiences will remain masked during their time inside CounterPulse.

Audiences for Performing Diaspora 2021 are capped at 25% of our original capacity (20 audiences total) and will be physically distanced throughout the showcase experience.

Additionally, CounterPulse properly cleans and sanitizes frequently touched surfaces. Staff will be equipped with and required to use personal protective equipment (PPE) while working near others.

The Performing Diaspora residency is made possible by support from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Emmet R Quady foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo credits available in Performing Diaspora 2021 Flickr album

Details

Start:
June 3, 2021
End:
June 12, 2021
Cost:
Free - $35
Website:
https://counterpulse.secure.force.com/ticket/#/events/a0S4y00000E55iBEAR

Venue

CounterPulse