Jaamil Olawale Kosoko Makes NYC Curatorial Debut in DNA's LateNite Series, 1/11 & 12

Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) champions experimentation in its rowdy DNA PRESENTS season LateNite series. Giving voice to artists working within the mediums of performance art, burlesque and experimental movement theater, DNA warmlywelcomes back Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, this time in his two-night New York City curatorial debut, other.explicit.bodies. Kosoko will perform a solo during the first night's performance. The show and its platform of otherness and eroticism are a direct extension of Kosoko's solo work other.explicit.body., which premiered at Harlem Stage E-moves in April 2012. Performances of other.explicit.bodies. are tonight, January 11 and 12. All shows are at 10 p.m.

Kosoko has carefully selected and arranged the artists in two programs for this LateNite series, selecting artists who evoke a deep investigation of physical, spiritual, and intellectual remembrance within the context of race, sexuality, gender, and economics. Program A, tonight, January 11, includes performances by Lawrence Graham-Brown (NJ), Kate Watson-Wallace (PHL), Marjani Forte (NYC), Saul Ulerio (NYC), Rebecca Patek (NYC), and a solo by Kosoko (NYC/PHL). Program B includes performances by Graham-Brown (NJ), Holly Bass (DC), Megan Bridge (PHL), devynn emory (NYC),Jasmine Hearn (PGH), and Jen Rosenblit (NYC).

Visual and Performance Artist, Lawrence Graham-Brown will kick off both evenings by performing within the gallery space directlyoutside of DNA's theater, against the backdrop of his own art, as the audience arrives.

"This idea of interfacing the past with the present to re-imagine the future is an explicit force shared between all the artists showcasing in this series," says Kosoko. "While much of the work presented is abstract, placed together these pieces decode a narrative that is wild, spontaneous, sexy, absurd and comical."

Kosoko's opening-night-only solo explores a number of stereotypical tropes placed on the black male body, as Kosoko remains connected to a sculpture by a chain, amidst stacks of books. Like many of the performers included on this curated roster, Kosoko's solo playfully straddles the border of performance art and pure movement.

"DNA Presents' LateNite Series highlights our commitment to artists who create provocative and compelling works of dance and dance theater. This time Kosoko enters DNA as a member of our artistic team to focus on supporting the dance artist in the different iderations of self expression. Jaamil brings a lineup that will offer us a glimpse of a surprising, yet familiar and often warped world," says Artistic and Executive DirectorCatherine Peila.

A producer, poet, choreographer, and performance artist, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko is the Co-Director of anonymous bodies || art collective based in Philadelphia. He is a 2012 Live Arts Brewery Fellow, a 2011 DeVos Institute of Art Management Fellow at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a recent graduate of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) at Wesleyan University. His work in theater and dance has received support from The Pew Center for Arts, The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, and The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, among other institutions. As a performer, Kosoko has created originalroles with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Miguel Gutierrez and The Powerful People, Headlong Dance Theater, and The Philadiction Movement. Kosoko's poems have been published in The American Poetry Review, Poems Against War, The Dunes Review, and Silo, among other publications. In 2011, Kosoko published Notes on an Urban Kill-Floor: Poems for Detroit (Old City Publishing). He is a contributing writer for Dance Journal and the Broad Street Review in Philadelphia.

Performances run tonight, January 11 and Saturday, January 12. All performances 10 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online at www.dnadance.org, by calling 212.227.9856, or on site two hours before curtain. Cost is $17 for general audiences, $12 for DNA members and advanced sales. Discounted tickets are available by phone for groups of six or more.

DNA is located at 280 Broadway (entrance at 53 Chambers Street), New York, NY 10007, near the R to City Hall, 4/5/6 at Brooklyn Bridge, J/M/Z, A/C/E or 1/2/3 at Chambers Street, and 2/3 at Park Place.

Founded in 1984, DNA provides a community hub for the highest quality dance training, choreographic exploration and innovative performance, developing new audiences and bridging communities. It provides valuable opportunities for the aspiring, emerging and established artist, including daily classes, certification courses, commissions, artistic residencies, along with studio and administrative office subsidies. DNA encourages professionalism, entrepreneurial cross-discipline initiatives, community engagement and diverse artistic expression. It was the first nonprofit arts organization to move to Lower Manhattan after 9/11, serving as a renewing force in NYC's cultural landscape. To learn more about DNA and supporting its programs through charitable donations, visit www.dnadance.org.

More Articles by This Author...