This week at Northrop, we are joined in mourning with our city and the world over the death of George Floyd. Thinking about this latest example of ongoing injustice, I was reminded of the last performance I saw in a theater that included an artistic elegy for Black men and women who have died in police custody. A.I.M performed Kyle Abraham’s Meditation: A Silent Prayer for our audiences in two student matinees and one evening performance. I invite you to watch a video of the piece from a Joyce Theater performance, with the warning that it does include audio from the 2016 killing of Philando Castile in Minnesota.
I appreciate University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel’s response, which gives me hope. It’s difficult to feel inspired right now, but we are here to provide artistic connections that might be a balm in these times of grief and rage.
Kyle Abraham’s acclaimed work The Runaway is featured on tonight’s New York City Ballet premiere, the final program of the company’s Digital Spring Season. You can watch it on the NYCB YouTube Channel.
With gratitude to the many talented Black men who have graced our stages, and in honor of their artistry, humor, and humanity, we also shared this Black Men of Concert Dance version of the Don’t Rush Challenge.
Saturday kicks off Lincoln Center’s Dance Week, which features films of full performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as well as Ballet Hispanico and other Northrop artists.
We offer David Rousseve/REALITY’s Halfway to Dawn which sought to uncover the complicated emotional truths of gay, African American jazz composer Billy Strayhorn’s life while creating a dialogue on urgent social truths of our own. We appreciate Alonzo King’s intellect and his reverence and curiosity for all living beings on this earth in Biophony. We remember the reasons why Arthur Mitchell founded Dance Theatre of Harlem, and we call forth the joy and the sweat of Robert Garland’s ballet Return set to Aretha Franklin and James Brown’s music.
If you need help figuring out how to respond for the long term, I invite you to join me in reading books by two scholars who have recently spoken from Northrop’s stage: Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism and Carol Anderson’s White Rage: The Unspoken Truth Of Our Racial Divide.
In this moment, I hope you are safe and I stand in my belief that art and artists have the power to change the world. Take good care, and take good action.