Review: THE IMAGINING BY AMARI MARSHALL at Powerhouse Arts

Presented at Powerhouse Arts as a part of the Powerhouse: International Arts Festival, The Imagining is a full-bodied arrival into the creative mind of Amari Marshall (professionally known as AmariMonster). In a city overflowing with performances that claim novelty, Marshall delivers something that truly feels brand new: an immersive, in-the-round dance celebration that positions movement not as an accoutrament, but the main attraction.

As the audience enters the glittering warehouse space, it becomes abundantly clear that this is not your average dance performance: the central stage sits in the round, anchored by a DJ booth and adorned with a massive disco ball, while platform stages of various shapes and sizes encircle the outer exhibition space. There are no bad seats here—by design. 

It’s as though guests have stepped into a living and breathing art museum. Instead of sculptures on pedestals, Marshall indulges the audience with her strong, sensuous, electric choreography pulsating through talented dancers perched atop the various stages.  Instead of placards, this “living museum” supplements the main art attraction, dance, with soulful music and spoken word narration. 

In The Imagining, Marshall invites the audience to let go and experience an evening of communal, joy-forward dance and creative expression. You have not just come to watch. You have come to participate.

Company Credits

The Imagining

Conceived, Directed & Choreographed by Amari Marshall (AmariMonster)
Venue: Powerhouse Arts
Featuring: Amari Monster, Brickhouse NYC, Duval Queenz, Yoe + Sheopatra of THE COUNCIL, Ladies of Hip Hop, Tany Ora, The Breakfast Club (Harlem-born pioneers of Lite Feet), Special Guest Jonte’
DJs: Alberto Reyes, Tim Fields, Vonnie Mack, Jasmine Solano
Music Direction: Live DJ Sets Throughout

What distinguishes The Imagining is Marshall’s ability to curate a space where people feel safe to play through dance. Marshall’s choreography and spatial orchestration gently, but decisively, guide the eye, while also allowing spectators the freedom to roam, drawing closer to movement that calls to them. Dance becomes both exhibition and communion, collapsing the traditional boundary between performer and observer.

Marshall herself sets the tone. She struts through the space via a suddenly revealed walkway among the crowd, bathed in a singular beam of light, dancing with strength, confidence, and unapologetic power. When she arrives center stage and takes the mic as master of ceremonies, her sole rule for the night is simple: no wallflowers. 

Audience members are encouraged to find their own rhythm and dance alongside the artists. Marshall was true to her word, and dancers throughout the evening would invite patrons already dancing below onto the stage with them to dance together. The result is rare and electric: spectators momentarily become performers, and the room transforms into a joyful space for shared expression.

Marshall structures The Imagining in distinct segments that showcase multiple dance styles, unique themes narrated in a poetic voiceover format, and different DJs.  Some of the most notable segments are described below:

Interlude: “Feelin’ Good”

“More than a movement, for us, by us, for our legacy, graceful like Nina (Simone), real like Malcolm (X), women making hip hop history…”

This spoken interlude ushers in one of the evening’s most striking sequences. A single dancer, clad head-to-toe in a crimson suit and hat, appears atop the DJ booth beneath the gleam of the disco ball, contorting and commanding space as a reimagined “I’m Feelin’ Good” signals a new dawn. As the music swells, the outer circle of platforms fills with similarly adorned dancers. 

The beat drops, and what follows is a mesmerizing popcorn effect: the collective group of dancers each points to one single dancer and repeats this practice, passing the spotlight in rapid succession as lighting shifts around the room and each dancer takes their solo moment.  Audience members whip their heads in excitement to see who will dance next.  It is a vivid embodiment of collective legacy, strong women of color sharing the stage, supporting one another, and asserting that there is room for everyone to shine.  

Interlude: “Culture & the City”

“The culture breeds, in the city that never sleeps…”

Here, the evening pivots into a jubilant celebration of Harlem’s Lite Feet culture, led by The Breakfast Club. Performers take center stage, singing, rapping, and exploding into high octane choreography in the round, the energy infectious and unstoppable. This section pulses with local specificity and pride, honoring movement born of the city itself.

Interlude: “Brick by Brick”

“Brick by brick the future that is bold, black, and free…”

This interlude turns toward the future. Young dancers emerge on separate platforms, heads down, focused, and a prayer plays over the sound system. The dancers come alive at the words in syncopated movement.  The choreography builds into a buoyant movement, laced with anticipation and hope. The dancers leave their platforms and surround the center platform, the area now cleared of audience members so the dancers can fill it.  The young dancers cannot be contained, symbolic of their potential, their fire, their energy: they are the future. 

Across the evening, Marshall offers an abundant buffet of dance styles and arrangements—solos, abundant group numbers, trios, dance battles, Lite Feet, waacking, contemporary, vogue, hip hop, Afro styles, popping—woven together with creative light cues, seamless DJ transitions, and poetic spoken word. Dance is a tool of empowerment, storytelling, and reclamation. 

What makes Marshall’s choreography and creative vision so compelling is her ability to harness both the power and the layers of a dancer.  Performers in The Imagining oscillate between playful ease and fierce intentionality, between grounded calm and explosive force. There is something deeply human (and at times almost superhuman) about the way these dancers execute their movement: dancing in the pocket while still remaining in constant dialogue with one another, and with the audience.

It is no surprise that music icons like Beyoncé have sought out Marshall’s movement and creative vision (Marshall served as Dance Captain and Contributing Choreographer on Beyoncé’s most recent “Cowboy Carter” World Tour). Marshall’s movement celebrates the body and spirit as inseparable forces, and shows how dance can be a catalyst for uplifting and healing. The Brooklyn art community is fortunate to witness her latest creation.

The Imagining marks a significant milestone for Amari Marshall, as a choreographer and an artistic visionary. In a culture where dance is too often treated as accessory rather than the main attraction, Marshall boldly reclaims its centrality. This production insists that dance deserves space and respect, and that it holds the power to build community in real time.

The Imagining offers a tantalizing glimpse of what is possible when dance is allowed to lead, and when an artist of Marshall’s caliber is given the room to imagine freely. Wherever she chooses to create next, we would be wise to follow.

The Imagining ran at Powerhouse Arts December 12-13th as a part of The Powerhouse International Arts Festival.  For more information visit https://festival.powerhousearts.org/ and https://www.amarimarshall.com/