***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Split Bill -
“If I Die: Recycle, Renew, Release” | “hybrid memory”
“The full sensory creative space rises from the dead turbulent voices, heartache and ominous stories” - PITTSBURGH IN THE ROUND
Links Hall is proud to present, Split Bill - If I Die: Recycle Renew Release | hybrid memory, running 5.18-5.19 with doors opening at 7pm. This “co-missioned” evening of future focus performance combines stories from across cultures as a opportunity for reflection explored through technology and ceremony.
“IF I DIE: RECYCLE, RENEW, RELEASE” is a performance vignette of the 2016 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival “Selke Award” winning, If I Die I’m A Legend: A Tale of Orisha, Hoodo, and #BLACKLIVESMATTER. Written and directed by DS Kinsel and Anqwenique Wingfield and performed by members of BOOM Concepts Studio. Choreographer Anthony Williams and BOOM Concepts co-founder D.S. Kinsel created “If I Die: Recycle Renew Release” as an adaption of the original work.
“If I Die: Recycle Renew Release” is an enchanting experience challenging audiences to explore the relationship between history, ownership, and ritual. Set against the backdrop of market driven shifts and neighborhood change, attendees will engage in ceremonies of both the gentry and indigenous class. If I Die: Recycle Renew Release presents contemporary black spirituality as a weapon of resistance, in hopes of recruiting and training new devotees.
“If I Die: Recycle Renew Release” features BOOM Concepts Studio members Anthony Williams and Shad Ali as “Spiritual Gatekeeper” and “Street Deity” respectively. Totems, Hip Hop, and Expressive Movement are used to investigates the impact of cultural displacement. Posing questions such as: How does the character of a neighborhood change? Can capitalism be used as a tool to increase a sense of belonging?
2018 touring and production of works created in the “If I Die” canon is made possible with the support of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments through the Advancing Black Arts In Pittsburgh program.
BOOM Concepts
BOOM Concepts is a creative hub based in Pittsburgh dedicated to the advancement of POC and LGBTQIA creative entrepreneurs. BOOM Concepts serves as a space for field building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer mentorship, and storytelling. These actions provide a way for creatives to successfully navigate between nonprofit and for-profit sectors as a way to practice contemporarily while having some control their career trajectory. BOOM Concepts has four locations across Pittsburgh with satellite studio locations in PIttsburgh’s Oakland and Allentown neighborhoods and is host to the Black Unicorn Archives & Library project. BOOM Concepts has collaborated with cultural entities such as The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Andy Warhol Museum, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, The August Wilson Center, VIA Festival, Thrival Festival, AS220, Allied Media Conference, and Common Field.
Shad Ali
Shad Ali is a Hip Hop, Performance, and Visual artist hailing from Wilkinsburg, PA. Shad’s creative practice manifests itself through Hip-Hop music, in addition to performance, and visual art. His work is primarily influenced by the happenings within his own life in addition to the black experience at large, Shad’s humble beginnings in Hip-Hop music go hand in hand with the youth work that he has done over the past 7 years.Since making his musical debut 2011 with his mixtape, The Appetizer’s EP, Shad’s creative writing and musically stylings have become recognized as a developing talent. His works have been featured on popular Hip Hop media outlets such as HipHopDX, 2dopeboyz, and JENESIS Magazine. Shad has also opened as a performer for critically acclaimed acts such as Saba, Black Milk, and Skyzoo. Persisting with his talent over time has allowed him to travel and perform in New York City, Detroit, and Washington D.C,.
Anthony Williams
Anthony Williams, a Chicago native, dancer, choreographer, and educator. As a dancer, he has worked with Attack Theater (Pgh). He has performed with Congo Square Theater Company (Chicago), Staycee Pearl dance project (Pgh), Texture Contemporary Ballet (Pgh) August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (Pgh), and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (Chicago). As a choreographer, he has created original works for Carnegie Mellon University’s Infra Dance Company, Reed Dance, Hope Academy, Boom Concepts, Point Park University, and Dreams of Hope.
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‘hybrid memory’ is a composite of two pre-existing duets from slowdanger’s ‘memory 4’ and ‘TETHER’. The work examines the hypothetical concepts of engrams, or memory traces, and the claim that the brain simultaneously stores two versions of each event; one for long term memory and one for short. ‘hybrid memory’ fuses movement theater, corporeal mime techniques, contemporary and postmodern dance frameworks, state-based movement filters, live and sampled sound, and LED light to generate an evocative performance landscape of fragmented memory.
Multidisciplinary performance duo Anna Thompson & Taylor Knight - slowdanger - fuse sound and movement through improvised contemporary and postmodern dance frameworks. slowdanger is an organism that uses performance and collaboration as ritual practice to delve into circular life patterning such as effort, transformation, and death."
slowdanger is one of Dance Magazine’s 2018 ‘25 to Watch’ and emerging choreographers for Springboard Danse Montreal 2018. Residencies and awards include The Opportunity Fund 2017, Heinz Endowments Small Arts Initiative 2016, Sidra Bell Dance New York’s MODULE Guest Artist in Residence 2018, PearlArt Studio’s Pearl Diving Movement Residency 2017, The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s F.I.N.E. Residency 2016, The New Hazlett Theater’s CSA Series 2016, City Theatre’s Belfry Artist Series 2016, and The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater’s FreshWorks Residency 2015.
Tickets Are Available For Purchase At Links Hall Box Office
MAY 18TH & 19TH, 2018 7pm
Links Hall
3111 N. Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
Phone: 773.281.0824
E-mail: info@linkshall.org
