Circles: going in
Black Joy. Femme. Cycles of Life and Love.
Co-Presented with August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Kelly Strayhorn Theater, CIRCLES is a full-length dance work celebrating #BlackGirlMagic. Layering dance, visual arts, and a live original score, the work presents snapshots of popular culture through Choreographer Staycee Pearl’s lens as a Black woman. With an ensemble of five dancers, CIRCLES is a colorful, unapologetic, and daring path to self-reclamation. CIRCLES is amplified by an original soundtrack created by Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl in collaboration with a diverse roster of club artists including Queen Jo, Ixa, DJ Haram, Kilamanzego, Kha’DJ, DOTGOV, Madame Dolores, Yah Lioness, Meejah, & Geña.
Immerse yourself in the accompanying CIRCLES art exhibit featuring Black visual artists including Staycee Pearl, Bekezela Mguni, Kitoko Chargois, and sarah huny young. Works will draw from their shared explorations of Blackness and self-reclamation.
Staycee R. Pearl / Lead Artist
Herman B. Pearl / Sound Designer/Engineer
LaTrea Derome /Dancer
Chandler Bingham / Dancer
Lindsay McGivern / Dancer
Raven Marsh / DancerSound Collaborators
Sound Collaborators
DJ Haram
Kha’DJ
Queen Jo
Gena
Kilamanzego
Yah Lioness
Ixa
Meejah
dot gov
Madam Dolores
Photo credit: Kitoko Chargois, Lindsay B. Garvin, and Tara Geyer
CIRCLES is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Joyce Theater, and NPN. More information: www.npnweb.org. CIRCLES was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Co-commissioning Partners are Kelly Strayhorn Theater, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, and The Joyce Theater. The development of CIRCLES is made possible in part by the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron). CIRCLES is supported in part by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Fund, Heinz Endowments, and The Opportunity Fund.