girl, gurrl, gworl: iterations of freedom

Brave New Works Lab, 2023

Projection Design: Barry Jones | Pianist: Alex Dolezal

a three part evening length dance theater piece that examines the (mis)representations of Black womanhood in the south and the power of self-definition as resistance. The work explores the inaccuracies of the Black female “self” through the lens of three historic tropes: The Mammy, The Jezebel and The Sapphire (Angry Black Woman) to emphasize the enormous, egregious, and oppressive influences of these images on the Black girl’s/Black woman’s psyche. Girl, Gurrl, GWORL – iterations of freedom confronts the perpetuation of Black female stereotypes, and prompts the question: how do we begin to recognize and redefine the misconceptions of ourselves and others?