From March 24 through 26, 2022, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts' center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, presents multifaceted hip hop artist Dahlak Brathwaite with his latest work, Try/Step/Trip.
Try/Step/Trip is a spoken word, multi-character musical performed in the body through the language of step dance. The story follows the journey of an anonymous narrator as he re-imagines his experience in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program.
Inspired by Brathwaite's own history, Try/Step/Trip layers characters, poetic verse, and dialogue over music to create a theatrical piece that blurs the lines between hip-hop and dramatic performance. Try/Step/Trip emerges from the belief that the subjugation of Black people is an American ritual; that the criminal justice system now functions as a normalized rite of passage for too many young Black males.
Dahlak Brathwaite is the writer/composer,
Roberta Uno is the director, choreography is by Toran X. Moore, with assistant choreography by Freddy Ramsey, Jr., and orchestration and additional composition by Teak Underdue.
Originally scheduled to appear at REDCAT in Spring 2020, a conversation about and excerpts of Try/Step/Trip were
presented virtually through REDCAT's website in Fall 2020.
About the Artist
Dahlak Brathwaite is an award-winning playwright, composer, and performer. His work has been presented at The Smithsonian, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, REDCAT, MCA Chicago, Ars Nova,
The Public Theater, SXSW, by Creative Time, and on HBO's last two seasons of
Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. Brathwaite's trilogy of works -- Spiritrials (solo play), Try/Step/Trip (musical), Adapting History (documentary film) -- take a personal look into the criminal justice system and the relationship between Black American music and Black American subjugation. Development of the work has been supported by CalArts, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Victory Gardens, and Montalvo Arts Center. Brathwaite has received awards and support from NEFA, the Doris Duke Foundation, The U.S. State Department, NYU Tisch, and MAP Fund. He is a graduate of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where he was awarded the Dean's Full-Tuition Fellowship, and currently serves as the Assistant Director for the national tour of the Tony-winning revival of Oklahoma!. Learn more at
www.thisisdahlak.com.
This REDCAT presentation of Try/Step/Trip is made possible in part by support from the NPN/VAN Artist Engagement Fund. Major contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency).
Originally developed, commissioned and made possible by CalArts Center for New Performance. Critical support for the work has been through residencies at CalArts Center for New Performance. Try/Step/Trip was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Try/Step/Trip is a National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Youth Speaks, Inc. in partnership with The Living Word Project, a fiscally sponsored project of Intersection for the Arts, CalArts Center for New Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Miami Light Project and, NPN/VAN.
TICKETS & INFORMATION:
Dahlak Brathwaite: Try/Step/Trip
Thursday, March 24 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person)
Saturday, March 26 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person and virtual)
Ticketing:
$25 for General admission ($15 virtual)
$20 for REDCAT members and students ($12 virtual)
$13 for CalArts students, faculty and staff ($8 virtual)
Tickets can be purchased at:
https://www.redcat.org/event/dahlak-brathwaite-trysteptrip-0
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