Kicking off the Fall 2021 season, on Sept. 17 and 18, 2021, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts' center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, proudly presents performers and choreographers jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham with Let 'im Move You: This Is a Formation.
Let 'im Move You is a series of works choreographed by poe and Beacham that stem from their multi-year research into J-Sette performance. J-Sette, also known as "Bucking," is a performance style popular in the southern U.S., practiced widely among majorettes and drill teams at historically Black colleges and universities, and also among teams of primarily queer men who compete at gay clubs and pride festivals.
Initial research for the series absorbed the artists' curiosity about the performance of joy and what the artists call "the conundrum of Black joy." The series began in the summer of 2013 while poe and Beacham were at a residency through Germany's Tanzrecherche NRW. The work currently consists of three live performance works and an installation.
This Is a Formation is the latest performance in the series, bringing together a group of seven Black dancers for a multimedia work to be alternately performed at REDCAT and on sidewalks and in alleyways in predominantly or historically Black neighborhoods. Compelled by J-Sette's specific rules around formation and order, the new project confronts meanings-real and imaginary-of Black queer bodies in public assembly.
The offsite performance of Let 'im Move You: Intervention will take place on Thursday, Sept. 16 at dusk in Santa Monica. Details coming soon.
At REDCAT, Let 'im Move You: This Is a Formation will take place in the round with a standing room audience. There will be a limited amount of seating for those who need it.
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