The New York premiere of /peh-LO-tah/, a performance work by award-winning poet-performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph, explores the links between dance and sport, as well as the complexities of soccer-the world's most popular game-as a source of both joy and exploitation. Based on the artist's own experiences playing the game as an American child of Haitian immigrants, as well as his travel journals from visits to World Cups in South Africa and Brazil, /peh-LO-tah/ deftly mines the political, economic, and social significance of the spinning ball (pelota). It is, per Joseph: "a dance about the economy, choreographed to the rhythm of the beautiful game." /peh-LO-tah/ combines Joseph's signature spoken word and charismatic storytelling with live music and choreography inspired by South African and Brazilian movement styles and techniques from the soccer field. The production also encompasses silhouette, shadow play, and video production in addition to showcasing the powerful physicality of the production's dancers and musicians, delivering a multi-dimensional theatrical experience both immersive and illuminating.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a curator of words, ideas, and protagonists. His bold, poetically-driven work investigates social issues and cultural identity. He is a steadfast believer in empathy as the most valuable currency in building community, and seeks to spark curiosity and dialogue about freedom, compassion, and fearlessness through pioneering arts stewardship and education. A 2017 TEDGlobal Fellow, Joseph graced the cover of Smithsonian Magazine as one of America's Top Young lnnovators in the Arts and Sciences, artistically directed HBO's "
Russell Simmons presents Brave New Voices," and is an inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship, which annually recognizes 50 of the country's greatest living artists. Dance Magazine named him a Top Influencer in 2017.
Joseph's evening length work red black and GREEN: a blues was nominated for a 2013 Bessie Award for "Outstanding Production (of a work stretching the boundaries of a traditional form)" and he has won numerous grants including from the National Endowment for the Arts and Creative Capital Foundation. Recent commissions include Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos for Creative Time, the libretto for Home in 7 for the Atlanta Ballet, and theater work for
South Coast Repertory Theater. He is currently collaborating with composer DBR on a duo show, Blackbird, Fly, as well as a new chamber opera co-commissioned and produced by Opera Philadelphia, New York's Apollo Theater, and London's Hackney Empire, premiering under the direction of
Bill T. Jones this fall.
Joseph is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals which activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life. His essays have been published in Harvard Education Press; he has lectured at more than 200 colleges, has carried adjunct professorships at Stanford and Lehigh, among others, and currently serves as Chief of Program and Pedagogy at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. To learn more, visit
Bamuthi.com.
Photo credit: Bethanie Hines
