yours, mine, theirs, ours
Jacksonville Dance Theatre
2022, 2023
Music/editing: Eboné Amos
Lights: Sam Catone
Cast: Sarah Dowdy, Breauna Moore, Jessica Plonka, Emily Poli, Tess Sturgeon, Kristen Sholes Sullivan and Hilary Libman, Emily Poli
memory made movement
mine, yours, theirs, ours is a 22 minute non-linear narrative dance piece that explores how the body stores memories (like a living, breathing archive) and how I, as a choreographer, can make space for these memories to generate choreography. The movement in this work is directly informed by the memories I have with the strong, resilient women in my family. The movement intertwines gesture and contemporary dance techniques and displays percussive, swinging and collapsed energetic qualities. Sonically, I employ the powerful voices of notable Black women speakers soul singers such as Shirley Chisolm, Odetta and Nina Simone.
“A dance piece as complex as the women who inspired it."
In the first excerpt (opening sequence), the dancers "dig in" as their weight collapses upstage before breaking into solos over Shirley Chisolm's voice, encouraging women to step out of fear and into leadership. The second excerpt is a duet between dancer and singer, signifying the advice my great-grandmother once gave me: "Don't let nobody make you feel small". As the strength of Odetta's voice fills the room, the dancers' movements are large and commanding as she moves through the entire space. In the final excerpt, I recall the feeling of unwavering love and support from the women in my family (those here on earth and those I consider ancestors) and the freedom I have found within that. A host of women flank the shoulders of a dancer in the center as they move in unison as a community. Eventually charging the space as they forge a path rooted in legacy.
