Contact: Merián Soto, Curator, Reflection/Response Choreographic Commission
The Temple University Department of Dance, Institute for Dance Scholarship, is delighted to present the seventh Reflection:Response Choreographic Commission, Lacks Criticality, by award winning choreographer and Master Artist, Awilda Sterling Duprey.Performances will take place in Temple University’s Conwell Dance Theater,on Friday and Saturday, September 21 and 22, at 7:30 PM.
In addition, Sterling Duprey will conduct a public workshop on Orisha abstractions in popular dance, presented in collaboration with The Philadelphia Yoruba Performance project. The workshop is designed for persons 16 and older, on Wednesday Aug 15, from 6-8:30 at Taller Puertorriqueño, 2600 North 5thSt, Philadelphia, 19133. All levels of experience welcome.
A 2010 USA ArtistsFellow, and central figure in Puerto Rico’s vibrant arts scene, Awilda Sterling Duprey will draw from an investigation on the phenomenal destructive forces of Hurricane Maria on citizens’ bodies/minds/emotional and the physical environment. Lacks Criticality will integrate abstractions of Yoruba dance traditions, and how these remit to the forces of nature. A particular focus will be the dances of Oyá, goddess of the wind, storms, and lightning, whose choreographies move from slowness to violence, like the natural force of the hurricane— the meteorological phenomenon that develops around a center, altering the wind, water, and destroying everything in its path. The title of the piece references myriad convoluted responses by observers to unknown cultural contexts, and the raw qualities intrinsic to the work.
Lacks Criticality continues Sterling Duprey’s investigation into Henri Lefebvre’s observations of moving bodies in different contexts, unleveled situations, and architectural spaces, and Rhythmanalysis, a theory aiming to conclude that rhythm is that around which the universe revolves. The piece will be an exploration of what is ultimately, that around which we, as people revolve. “My purpose isto make the audience active participants, not just passive observants. Therefore, the project aims tospeak my history through body co-incidences with audience members,” writes Sterling Duprey who aims to include the audience as performers in the work.
Performing alongside Sterling Duprey in Lacks Criticality will be Philadelphia based, Puertorican dancer and choreographer, Marion Ramírez, as well as graduate students in the Dance Program at Temple University. Lacks Criticality will also feature live percussion.
The Reflection/Response Commission is a program of Temple University Department of Dance’s Institute for Dance Scholarship. The Instituteaims to foster and enrich dance research for the students and faculty of Temple University through engagement with scholars, artists and dance professionals working in the field. Through a range of public events, guest seminars and collaborative research projects, it engenders a critical network for dance studies. The Institute’s programs include as well, the Dance Studies Colloquium, and a Scholar-In-Residence Program.