Former Batsheva Dance performer Shamel Pitts Premiers His Solo Work in NYC

By: Dec. 19, 2016
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Shamel Pitts, a former company member of Israel's iconic Batsheva Dance Company, praised for his "magnetic focus" by The New York Times, is bringing his first solo work BLACK BOX: Little Black Book Of RED to APAP showcase. The piece, which he conceived, choreographed and is going to perform, is a New York premiere and will be presented on January 6th and 7th at the 14th Street Y Theatre (344 East 14th Street at First Avenue). Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.14streety.org/blackbox; for group rates (10 or more), call 646-395-4323.

BLACK BOX: Little Black Book Of RED is an enigmatic performance/installation featuring a solo dancer. Buoyed by his trademark expressive movement, Pitts employs spoken word, evocative lighting, and video to construct a personal, poetic narrative about the search for identity and striving for survival amidst impermanence. Performed in a confined space in nearly pitch-black darkness, the work features recordings of Pitts' ruminations jotted down during his travels with Batsheva Dance Company. Obliquely referencing the flight data recorder, BLACK BOX transcends traditional travel journal format, becoming instead a record of - in a nod to Nina Simone - as a "young, gifted and Black" artist, thriving in constant motion. The piece, conceived, written, and performed by Shamel Pitts, was created in collaboration with Tom Love (art direction and light design), Stella Goldstein / Auerbach Records (Music Arrangement), Galit Reich (Original Producer And Costume Design.)


Shamel Pitts is a Brooklyn-born dancer, performance and spoken word artist, and a teacher. He graduated from the Juilliard School and danced with BJM Dance in Montreal, Mikhail Baryshnikov's Hell's Kitchen Dance, and Sidra Bell Dance in New York. Shamel began his professional training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High of the Performing Arts (formerly known as the Fame School,) and simultaneously studied at The Ailey School. Having moved to Israel in 2009, he was a company member of Batsheva Dance Company from 2009 to 2016 and has performed in many of their recent productions, including such critically-acclaimed shows as MAX (BAM NextWave 2009), and SADEH21 (BAM NextWave 2014).


With a passion for dance as well as other forms of artistic expression, Pitts has been collaborating with visual, film and performance artists on variety of projects, including the photography series 4SEASONS by Alex Apt, and a dance film Arrowed (dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall; a part of the ongoing project by the fellow Batsheva alumna and longtime collaborator Bobbi Jene Smith.) Shamel is also an accredited teacher of Gaga, the movement language created by Ohad Naharin, and has been leading workshops in Israel, USA, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, and many other countries, and has been on faculty at SUNY Purchase, The Juilliard School, and the Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive. Currently based in Tel Aviv, Pitts is an active member of the city's nightlife scene as a performer and producer.

https://www.shamelpitts.com
Photo by Alex Apt.



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