“[A] science fiction that addresses the desire, confusion and responsibility felt as individuals, who are also symbols of many long-persecuted people.”
(Quoted from Alexandrina Hemsley and Jamila Johnson-Small)
Voodoo is a new four hour dance work by Project O collaborated by artists Alexandrina Hemsley and Jamila Johnson-Small who create work with the objective to address, re-evaluate and resist the experience of being born black and female in 21st Century UK.
Self-described as a ‘durational unfolding [becoming] a play with time and subjectivity’, the piece is a healing process that challenges the violence of systematic oppression through dance. Each step aims to haunt us and in a clash of ‘tongues, colours, continents and histories’, audiences will be invited to join the dancers in their ritual. In this performance, bodies transform themselves into symbols that question and destabilise the way in which society’s infrastructure is held by a pervasive, systematic oppression.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh
No more identity
No more politics
No more explaining what I meant when I did that thing earlier
We are making a show.
It’s called Voodoo.”
(Quoted from Alexandrina Hemsley and Jamila Johnson-Small)
Alexandrina and Jamila are against defining what the show is and what it is not. Focusing on how dance and movement can become a corporeal metaphor for the oppressive structures that dominate society, Voodoo, is a ritual that transports us to a realm that attempts to challenge these ubiquitous prejudices. Whatever that makes the show does not matter: it is simply a journey.
This performance shows at The Old Market on April 19 at 7.30pm and again at 9.30pm.
Tickets: £15 (£8 concessions, limited availability)
Ages: 12+, under 16s to be accompanied
This performance includes: loud music, audience participation, darkness and some strong language.
