Projects
01
Twice As Many
Twice As Many is an original play about a two-headed calf “freak of nature” who has a violent birth, killing their mother, on a failing farm where a family is about to bury their grandmother. The two-headed calf cannot survive together so the family must decide which head to kill. Twice As Many explores themes of grief, eternity, ancestors, familial resentment, and the choice to look and love who's in front and inside of you (nasty as the process may be). I am also interested in using puppets to explore how animals and ancestors become gods with the use of and lack of language. Twice As Many and the puppets in it are inspired by the poem Two-Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin and the death of my grandfathers, Papa Allen and Papa Bill.
02
SLUG
SLUG., is a solo piece about what it means to be stuck in a cycle and how to slowly gurgle out of it. It is an investigation of my own struggle with ADHD/OCD, my journey to come to terms with it, and my attempt to thrive. The piece follows an ancient slug that is desperately trying to reach his higher potential--- his second life as a snail. This grotesque ceremony includes a soupy and inharmonious soundscape, choreographed movement, and music. My research was based on scientific articles, personal testimonies, distinctive visuals, and my own studio work and poetry.
03
Getting Away With It
Getting Away With It is a solo piece devised from Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, Lady Macbeth's story, and the ouroboros. Artistically, it is an attempt to find the smallest kind of creation: sound, thoughts, lies, what's undeniably already there, what you think is undeniably already there, it goes on... Philosophically, the piece asks the question : If we agree that energy cannot be created or destroyed… then is this all one big thing?… then is “humanity” really just a hand with the fingers discovering each other… then is a kiss/ a breath/ a sweat auto-eroticism?… then is murder is auto-cannibalism?… then do we die because/ against/ with/ in spite of each other?… then…
04
Aguas de Março
Aguas de Março is a piece coupling film and live performance. It is a piece devised from the archival recording of Elis Regina and Tom Jobim singing the timeless classic "Aguas de Março" in 1974. I was moved to make this piece because of the freedom I saw in this video. Through this piece I pursued gentle touches, failure, laughter, and energetic harmony between the archival recording, the film, the live performers, the audience, and myself.
(Image is of Evie Dumont)
05
LORRAINE
In the summer of 2019, I was chosen to be a a part of Summer Scholar Program at Ithaca College. She engaged in research and wrote a biographical one-woman play about Lorraine Hansberry and her life as a playwright and activist. Through her research and playwriting, I explored Hansberry's deeply intellectual, humours, and rebellious nature. In October, 2019, I presented my findings and some of my original monologues at the National Statera Women's Art Conference in NYC.
The session included a detailed presentation on what my research showed me about what it means to be a young, ambitious black woman and how to better the world around you. Special thanks to the wonderful people at the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture.