Voyages and Journeys

Performed by Seda Negra/Black Silk Dance Company

Choreographed by Iris Rosa Santiago in collaboration with dancers

Poetry written and spoken by Iris Rosa Santiago

Costume design and construction by Kelvin Burzon with Iris Rosa Santiago

Program

Part I Voyage to the New World

As we embark on our journey, we begin with the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This symbolic illustration of the journey from Africa to the New World represents the beginning of migratory stories revolutionizing and transforming lives.

Poem: They Came

Music: Columbus Ghost by Mutabaruka, The Rhy in You by Tarufiq Qureshi

Dancers: Entire Company

Ancestor: Amber Daniel

Part II Emerging

Landing in places that smothered and squashed and suppressed dreams, we reach out to begin our journey across lands.

Music: Nothing Came to Me by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment

Dancers: Entire Company

Part III Crossroads

The Orisha of the crossroads, Elegua, opens the pathways to lives. Opportunities to trek and wonder to find where we belong.

Poem: Cacucha

Music: Canto A Alegua and Pregones by Cuban National Folk Group

Dancers: Lauren Blackwell, Hannah Crane, Ronald King, Bianca Salgado, Amelia Smith

Ancestor: Amber Daniel

Music: Sódade by Cesária and Bonga

Dancers: Camille Beck, Kelvin Burzon, Hannah Crane, Cherese Dillman, Grace Fornefeld, Jayna Ratcliff

Part IV Placing and Displacing

Through struggle, dissonance, conflict and indifference, we find ourselves traveling and creating culture by finding those places to live, work, find partnerships, and connect to create spaces of coexistence.

Poem: You’re Not From Here

Music: Kantelever composed by Kenneth B. Ware

Poem: Moving to the City

Music: Flying Home by Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra

Music: Micaela by Sonora Carruseles

Dancers: Entire Company