MBDance Will Perform World Premiere of THESE ARE THE BODIES THAT HAVE NOT BORNE
Performances are August 23 & 24.
MBDance, founded by choreographer/director Maria Bauman in 2009, announces the world premiere of the company's newest work, These are the bodies that have not borne., August 23 & 24, 2025. These are the bodies that have not borne. combines land art, choreography, original music, soil ecologies, and ritual: a reckoning and a healing offering for those contending with the courage it takes to desire. This world premiere is presented as part of the Snug Harbor Dance Festival on Staten Island, NY.
"As Black queer and trans folks who have not birthed children, we offer our dancing bodies in an outdoor public setting as evidence and reminder of our inherent worth, obstructing institutional efforts to vilify and invisible-ize us," shares Maria Bauman, founder of MBDance. "These are the bodies that have not borne. is a healing portal and monument to those of us contending with maladies like endometriosis and with socio-economic barriers to Black queer family-building. Through Afro-diasporic contemporary dance techniques, site-specific collaboration with the land, and land art, we construct a necessary processing and visioning space for all people to contend with unrequited desires."
A cast of seven will perform: Graciella Ye'Tsunami, Rochelle Jamila, AJ Wilmore, Angel Edwards, Myssi Robinson, Audrey Hailes, and Maria Bauman. These are the bodies that have not borne. is choreographed and directed by Maria Bauman, assisted by Audrey Hailes. Mankwe Ndosi contributes original music. At its core this work is both a collective and individual somatic processing of unrequited desires and inherent worth in our bodies and livelihoods. Performers will submerge themselves in portals dug into the ground, literally dancing out of the Earth, and provoking images and questions of burial, of re-birth and of Earth as first parent.
As a companion, MBDance also offers a self-published 'zine, These are the bodies that have not borne. a whisper. a seed. an archive. - centering Black queer and trans experiences surrounding reproductive health and family-building. Pre-orders are available here.
Videos
