OUR SEASON OF ANNIVERSARIES CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF LIVE ARTS AND 40 YEARS OF THE BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY
Shamel Pitts | TRIBE BLACK HOLE: Trilogy And Triathlon APR 21-23, 7:30PM Co-presented with 92nd Street Y Choreographer: Shamel Pitts Performers: Shamel Pitts, Tushrik Fredericks, Marcella Lewis Video Lighting Designer: Lucca Del Carlo Musician & Composer: Sivan Jacobovitz Sound Collage Artist: Zen Jefferson Artistic Production Manager: Rus Snelling Black Tarp Designer: Naomi Maaravi Costume Designer: Mirelle Martins Photographer & Cinematographer: Itai Zwecker & The Adeboye Brothers Spoken Word Text: Shamel Pitts Creative Director: Mirelle Martins Artistic Administrator: Ashley Pierre-Louis Development Consultant: LGCapital for Culture Press Agent: Kamila Slawinski Additional Music: Door Of The Cosmos/ Sun Ra, AirFlow! Velocity/ Keru Not Ever, Fever Dream/ Daniel Avery, Funeral Canticle/ John Tavener, Radiance/ Tim Hecker, Heavy Snow/ ChiHei Hatakeyama, Feeling Good/ Nina Simone Cover photo by Itai Zwecker Running time: 1 hour, 1 min, 1 second
FUNDING BLACK HOLE was developed with the kind support of Trust for Mutual Understanding (TMU), American Dance Abroad, gloATL, PearlArts Studios, CrossAward (Italy), Dock 11 / Eden (Germany), Derida Dance Center (Bulgaria), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York Live Arts, and 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. Additional commissioning, development and core operating support for TRIBE is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Dance/ NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Ford Foundation; National Performance Network (NPN) Creation, Development & Artist Engagement Fund Project supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
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We acknowledge and pay respect to Lenape people, elders, and ancestors past, present, and coming in the future. We acknowledge Indigenous people who may be present right now. We acknowledge and offer deep gratitude to Lenapehoking where we are now - the land, and waters of the Lenape homeland.
Photo by Itai Zwecker
ABOUT In BLACK HOLE, a trio of Black performers (all of African heritage) share the stage in a narrative of unity, vigor, and unrelenting advancement. Their journey originates in the darkness of the titular Black Hole, understood not as a cosmic void but a metaphorical place of transformation and potential. Engulfed in an evocative soundscape of original music, sound samples, and spoken word, the dancers embark on an hour-long, uninterrupted journey in movement in which their tenacity and grace are emphasized by cinematic video projections and stark, monochromatic lights. BLACK HOLE – Trilogy and Triathlon concludes the Black Trilogy, a series of deeply personal live performance pieces conceived and choreographed by Pitts since 2015. The first work of this collection, a solo BLACK BOX – Little Book of RED, introduced the recurring themes of this cycle: identity, search for the roots and community, and personal evolution of the artist, born “young, gifted and Black.” 2019 saw the New York premiere of BLACK VELVET – Architectures And Archetypes, “a haunting duet” (The New York Times) with Brazilianborn Mirelle Martins. Collaboration with her and other Black Series artists subsequently spurred the inception of TRIBE, a multidisciplinary collective of international creatives, united by Afrofuturistic ideals and shared goals. >> itsatribe.org For more information about TRIBE, please email Artistic Administrator Ashley Pierre-Louis at itsatribe@gmail.com.
BIOGRAPHIES TRIBE is a Brooklyn/NYC based arts collective dedicated to creating, developing and sharing original multidisciplinary art projects.
and spoken word artist. Since 2019, he is the artistic director/ founder of TRIBE, a New Yorkbased multidisciplinary arts collective which was a 202021 Artist-In-Residence at 92Y Understanding that performance Harkness Dance Center. Born art and live art are practices of in Brooklyn, New York, Shamel human connection, TRIBE acts began his dance training at nationally and internationally by LaGuardia High School for Music developing art exchanges and & Art and the Performing Arts performances in collaboration and, simultaneously, at The Ailey with institutions and artists, with School. He received his BFA in a focus on the African diaspora. Dance from The Juilliard School and was awarded the Martha Hill With artistic direction by Award for excellence in dance. He Shamel Pitts (2020 Guggenheim started his professional dance Choreography Fellow), TRIBE career with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s was created in the end of 2019 Hell’s Kitchen Dance and BJM_ with the dream to soon become a Danse Montreal. Between 2009synonym of artistic experiences 2016, he was a company member that connects gifted individuals in of the Batsheva Dance Company, our present era to re-imagine and led by Ohad Naharin where cultivate an alternative collective he studied Gaga movement future. language, of which he is now a certified teacher. Since 2015, Follow TRIBE on Instagram: Shamel has created a triptych of @itsatribe award-winning multidisciplinary works known as BLACK Series, Shamel Pitts (Choreographer, which has been performed and Performer, Spoken Word Artist, toured extensively to many Artistic Director) is a dancer, festivals around the world. His choreographer, teacher, as well recent New York projects include as performance, conceptual , choreography for the play Help
by acclaimed poet and playwright Sidra Bell Dance New York. He is Claudia Rankine, directed by now working with TRIBE (artistic Taibi Magar, commissioned and director/founder Shamel Pitts). presented by The Shed in Spring Tushrik was an assistant lecturer of 2022. He is the recipient of a to Sidra Bell at The University 2018 Princess Grace Award in of the Arts Philadelphia for Choreography, a 2019 NYSCA/ Sophomore students (2016-2018). NYFA Artist Fellowship Award In May 2021 Tushrik received 3rd winner in Choreography, and prize for dance at the SoloTanz a 2020 Jacob’s Pillow artist in Festival in Stuttgart for his self residence, a 2020 Guggenheim choreographed solo (territory) Fellow, and the cast member of of the heart and in November the 2021 Bessie Award-winning 2021 Tushrik toured the solo to production of The Motherboard 7 different cities in Germany as Suite at New York Live Arts . part of the SoloTanz Festival. He is an adjunct at The Juilliard instagram.com/tushrik School and has been an artist in residence at Harvard University. Marcella Lewis (Performer) : 2018 Princess Grace Award Recipient shamelpitts.com in Dance, Marcella Lewis hails Tushrik Fredricks (Performer): from Los Angeles, CA, where she TUSHRIK FREDERICKS recipient began her dance training at the of Princess Grace Award in 2021 Lula Washington Dance Theatre. is originally from Johannesburg, She then continued her studies South Africa but is currently at the Los Angeles County High living in New York City. Growing School for the Arts(LACHSA). She up he specifically found himself later received her BFA from the drawn towards the style Purchase Conservatory of Dance ‘KRUMP‘. He graduated from in 2016, where she was awarded the Peridance Capezio Center the Adopt-A-Dancer Scholarship. Certificate Program in NYC in She joined Abraham.In.Motion June 2015 where he received in fall 2016, as a dancer, soloist, most of his training. He has had and company liaison. Marcella is the opportunity to work with currently an artist, creator and Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY (Danielle movement alchemist, freelancing Agami, Artistic Director) and and exploring choreography in
Los Angeles and New York. She luccadelcarlo.com is grateful to enter this portal with these brilliant, special and Sivan Jacobovitz (Musician & sensitive artists.. instagram.com/ Composer): Sivan Jacobovitz marcella_thecosmicmirror lives in Brooklyn. Dance collaborations include: TRIBE/ Lucca Del Carlo (Video Lighting Shamel Pitts’ Black Hole (touring Designer) is a graphic designer internationally) and Touch of RED; and video artist based in Sao Kimberly Bartosik’s I hunger for Paulo, Brazil and is a founding you (BAM Next Wave) & through member of the Brooklyn/New the mirror of their eyes (NYLA York based multidisciplinary Bessie Outstanding Production arts collective known as TRIBE. Honoree); MENAGERIE (with He has created the lighting and Shamel Pitts/Deville Cohen/ video mapping projections for Gibney Company); ASSEMBLY numerous performance works with GREYZONE (NYC-premiere and has toured and performed upcoming 6/22). thfc. live with the collective in many instagram.com/sivan_daniel countries all over the world. He specializes in transmedia, mixing Rus Snelling (Artistic Production Manager): AN AUSTRALIAN cinema techniques, concepts of architecture, visual arts, ARTIST with a career continuing over 30years, Rus has worked light design, and technology, as a production, stage, site & and integrating those into tour manager, lighting & set the direction and creation of scenography, immersive designer, consultant, technical environments and visual live director & fire sculptor with shows. In his view, all ways of arts organizations, institutions visual communication have & freelancing on events & interlacing points, not only installations around the world using technology but also using ranging from intimate theatrical human cognition and its related works, shows on and off censorial illusions. Del Carlo’s Broadway in NYC & London’s specialty is mixing it in new ways West End, to large scale indoor & to inspire and break common outdoor festivals including the patterns in visual expression. Sydney Olympic Ceremonies,
the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Ceremonies & Cultural Festival, Montreal Just for Laughs, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Vancouver Winter Olympics Cultural Festival, Centennial celebrations, river & street parades & various music festivals. He has worked with artists Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson, John Leguizamo, Philip Glass, Brian Eno, Tim Robbins & The Actors Gang, Taylor Mac, Patti Smith, Trisha Brown Dance Company, Bandaloop, Camille A Brown & Dancers, Abraham. In.Motion, Streb & Phantom Limb Company among many and on projects & tours in Australia, USA, Canada, Tunisia, Europe, Asia & South America. Rus worked at PS122 in NYC many moons ago and was the founding Production Manager & Resident Lighting Designer at Oz Arts Inc in Nashville, TN for 6 years before moving to Miami to continue freelance work and is proudly working currently on the tour of And So We Walked featuring DeLanna Studi and is excited to be part of the creation of Touch of Red with TRIBE.
Naomi Maarovi (Costume Designer): Dutch born designer, Naomi Maaravi, raised in a theatre family, with more than 25 years of experience in fashion and theatre, she followed her father’s footsteps when approaching design, after experiencing the world as an international head designer at trendsetting brands in Paris, the Netherlands, Milano and Israel (currently living). Her journey ultimately led to become one of the few unique masters of the fashion industry. Today in addition to upcycling unique pieces for her mini collection, she teaches and consults on upcycling at academies and in her studio, makes costumes for dancer/performer Shamel Pitts, and upcycles stock for the well known Israeli fashion house Comme-i-faut. naomimaaravi. com Mirelle Martins (Costume Designer & Creative Director): From Goiânia (Brazil, 1984), Mirelle Martins received her Bachelor degree in Social Communications at Universidade de Brasília (2006). Martins worked more than 10 years at creative departments in
advertising, branding and digital marketing when she started to produce and curate independent art projects in São Paulo. From 2010 to 2015 she had sculpture, video poetry and installation projects presented at major art institutions in the city in collaboration with local and international artists. Mirelle started to research performance art in 2013 at the Gaga Dance Intensive in NYC. There she first met Shamel Pitts and soon they established a partnership, first to promote Gaga classes in Brazil. Black Velvet (Shamel Pitts, 2016) introduced Mirelle to the stage and has been touring internationally since 2017. She was an original performer in and co-costume designer of Black Hole (Pitts, 2018), assistant choreographer in VAI (SPCD, 2019), associate choreographer in HELP (The Shed, 2020). Currently, Martins is one of the founding artists of TRIBE, where she also acts as creative director. instagram.com/mirellemartins.r Ashley Pierre-Louis (Artistic Administrator): Ashley PierreLouis grew up on the lands of the Tequesta, Miccosuki and Seminole tribes. With education
from New World School of the Arts and later from Florida State University, Pierre-Louis began to discover her passion for movement, the human form, and arts administration. Ashley is currently artistic administrator and performer with Shamel Pitts’ multidisciplinary arts collective, TRIBE. Ashley is the associate choreographer for the play Help (2022) by acclaimed poet and playwright Claudia Rankine, directed by Taibi Magar, and commissioned at The Shed in New York. She is also in process with Indigenous choreographer Emily Johnson in her newest multi-scalar creation, Being Future Being. She has premiered the play Thoughts of A Colored Man by playwright Keenan Scott II and director Steve Broadnax III at Syracuse Stage and Baltimore Center Stage. She has performed for the premiere of Donna Uchizono’s work March Under an Empty reign at The Joyce: NY Quadrille Festival, has been one of GALLIM’s Moving Women spring artist - in - residence and she has also been a part of Alvin Ailey’s inaugural Choreography Unlocked Festival under the direction of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women, and Robert
Battle. Ashley has attended the School at Jacob’s Pillow, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, as well as Gaga intensives in Tel Aviv and New York. instagram.com/ ashleypierrelouis
internationally. Their production house develops, produces and writes branded and original documentaries, narrativebased shorts, and animations. This organization stands with creatives, the humans connected to culture, the communitymovers, the society shapers. thepalettegroup.com/projects
Itai Zwecker (Photographer & Cinematographer): Itai Zwecker is an Israeli-born director of cinematography, photographer, Sophie Myrtil-McCourty and video editor. His photography (Booking Agent) founded has been featured in The New Lotus Arts Management in York Times and DIYdancer. July 2014. She is originally Zwecker is based in Brooklyn and from Paris, France, where she Tel Aviv, where he works shooting graduated from a translation film, dance, music, documentary and interpretation school in the and commercial projects. French, English and German instagram.com/itai_zwecker languages. After college, Sophie worked in Paris as a The Adeboye Brothers freelance translator. She has (Photographer & always enjoyed the performing Cinematographer): PALETTE, arts world, particularly dance, Founded by The Adeboye which she has practiced as Brothers in 2017, is a creative an amateur for many years. agency focused on producing Additionally, her sister is a films, animations, and live dancer/choreographer in Paris experiences for campaign and Sophie has frequently helped activations both online and her with her administrative offline. Their background is work and international booking. rooted in thoughtful storytelling, In 1998, Sophie moved to art, and pushing the boundaries NYC and started working for within the film space. They’re Marlies Yearby first as her currently focused on building personal assistant, then as the out their Production house administrator of her dance
company, Movin’ Spirits Dance Theater. In October 2000, she joined the staff of Pentacle as the Administrator of the Help Desk program. As she also enjoyed booking other artists on the side, Sophie was promoted to join the Pentacle booking department in July 2004. She became the Director of the Department in 2008 and worked with an eclectic roster of six companies until June 2014. Sophie has also served on several panels including Dance Theater Workshop’s Fresh Tracks. She was on the committee of the 2015 Wassaic Festival. Sophie currently sits on the board of Tennessee Presenters and is an Advisory Council Member of the Field Leadership Fund, which is based on the premise that advancements in diversity among leadership will lead to a more equitable arts sector in New York City and beyond. lotusartsmgmt.com/about LG Capital for Culture (Development Consultant): : Founded in 2014 in NYC by Lauren Gibbs, LG Capital for Culture is a full-service consulting firm that specializes in fundraising and communications across the cultural, nonprofit and
academic sectors. LGCapital has collaborated successfully with over 30 unique nonprofit cultural and academic organizations as a development staff member and as a fundraising and communications consulting firm. Throughout their company history, LGCapital has helped lead and manage teams that have cumulatively raised over $20M in annual, capital and project support, as well as thousands of dollars in in-kind support, for a multitude of nonprofit clients and artists, to advance their cultural, advocacy and academic missions. They remain poised to engender significant financial and social media impacts, and to create unique, mission-aligned campaigns that meet the goals of their clients. LGCapital is proud to have begun their collaboration with TRIBE in 2019! lgcapital4culture.com
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LIVE ARTS CONTRIBUTORS New York Live Arts is deeply grateful to all the individuals listed below for their vital gifts to New York Live Arts over the last year: $500,000 and higher Anonymous Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker $100,000-$499,999 Eleanor Friedman Ruth & Stephen Hendel Alex Katz Foundation Ellen M. Poss Jane Bovingdon Semel & Terry Semel / Semel Charitable Foundation $50,000 - $99,999 Anonymous Lorraine Gallard & Richard Levy Suzanne Karpas $25,000 - $49,999 Anonymous Patricia Blanchet / Ed Bradley Family Foundation David Dechman & Michel Mercure Zoe Eskin Adam Flatto Helen & Peter Haje Alexes Hazen James C. Hormel & Michael P. Nguyen in memory of Linda Grass Shapiro Charla Jones Amy Newman & Bud Shulman Barbara & Alan D. Marks Randy Polumbo / Plant Construction Matthew Putman Alanna Rutherford Starry Night Fund at The Chicago Community Foundation Diana Wege / Wege Foundation $10,000 - $24,999 Colleen Keegan Julie Orlando Andrea Rosen Ruby Shang Nina & Gabriel Stricker Leslie Weinberger
$5,000 - $9,999 Deborah Hellman & Derek Brown Paula Cooper & Jack Macrae Caroline & Paul Cronson Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy Anne Delaney Agnes Gund Bill T. Jones & Bjorn Amelan Jeffrey B. & Wendy Liszt Robert Longo Deborah Ronnen Melissa Schiff Soros Cindy Sherman Temple St. Clair & Paul Engler Kristalina & Jack Taylor Williams Family Foundation $1,000 - $4,999 Jody & John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation Anonymous The Angelson Family Foundation Jonathan J. Cohen Charitable Fund Jeannie Colbert Kim Cullen Emily Dalton Joan Davidson Lil & Jim DeMarse Dobkin Family Foundation Margaret Doyle John Fitzgibbon Mimi Garrard Judith & Steven Gluckstern Michael & Deborah Goldberg Thomas & Barbara Gottschalk Jeanine Heriveaux Jenny Holzer Otho Kerr Spike Lee Nancy Meyer & Marc Weiss Susan Micari Meridee Moore & Kevin King Thomas Nichols & Daniel Chadburn Mark O’Donnell Deborah Pines Rita Salzman The Susan Stein Shiva Foundation Catharine R. Stimpson Megumi & Bruce Williams Timothy Wu & Eric Murphy
$500 - $999 Arthur Aviles Timothy Benning The Marshall Frankel Foundation Sharon Gerstel Tom Hennes Lauren Hutton Olivia Katz Kenneth Machlin Wayne Norbeck John Sansone Deborah Swiderski Gifts and commitments between 7/1/2020-6/30/2021 Support for New York Live Arts is provided by the Arnhold Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ed Bradley Family Foundation, The Brant Foundation, Inc., Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Dance/ NYC, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Marta Heflin Foundation, Alex Katz Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Alice Lawrence Foundation, Samuel M. Levy Family Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Performance Network, New England Foundation for the Arts, NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund in the New York Community Trust, The Poss Family Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, San Francisco Foundation The Semel Charitable Foundation, Scherman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Tides Foundation Corporate support for New York Live Arts includes Con Edison, Google, Otter AI, Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Public support for New York Live Arts is from Humanities New York, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Correction, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts.
STAFF & BOARD Artistic Leadership
Executive Leadership
Board of Directors
Bill T. Jones Artistic Director
Kim Cullen Executive Director & CEO
Stephen Hendel Co-Chair
Janet Wong Associate Artistic Director
Ali Burke Chief of Staff
Richard H. Levy Co-Chair
Programming, Producing & Engagement
Development
Helen Haje Vice Chair
Dave Archuletta Chief Development Officer
Slobodan RandjeloviĆ Vice Chair
Erin Baskin Institutional Giving Manager
Alan Marks Treasurer
Candystore Development Assistant
Alanna Rutherford Secretary
Kyle Maude Producing Director Hannah Emerson Producer Veronica Falborn Producer Production Hillery Makatura Director of Production Grady Shea Technical Director Chanel Pinnock Production Manager Megan Dechaine Production Stage Manager Creative Director Bjorn G. Amelan Community Engagement & Education Bianca Bailey Community Engagement & Education Manager Communications Tyler Ashley Director of Communications Hannah Seiden Communications Coordinator Liliana Dirks-Goodman Graphic Designer Pentagram Pro-Bono Branding
Finance Nupur Dey Director of Finance Manathus Dey Finance Associate
Bill T. Jones Artistic Director Ex-Officio Kim Cullen Chief Executive Officer Ex-Officio Bjorn Amelan Willard Ahdritz Sarah Arison
Operations
Aimee Meredith Cox
Gregory English Operations Manager
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Marcus Retegues Facilities Coordinator
Colleen Keegan
Aneudy Pilier Paulino Custodial Coordinator Adalid Nunez-Mendoza Custodial Assistant Human Resources ADP TotalSource Legal Services Lowenstein Sandler, PC Pro-Bono Counsel Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Barrington Hinds, Dean Michael Husted, Jada Jenai, Shane Larson, s. Lumbert, Danielle Marshall, Nayaa Opong, Marie Paspe, Jacoby Pruitt, Huiwang Zhang
Charla Jones Darnell L. Moore Amy Newman Randy Polumbo Ellen M. Poss Matthew Putman Jane Bovingdon Semel Ruby Shang Catharine R. Stimpson Diana Wege Board Emeritus Derek Brown Terence Dougherty Eleanor Friedman Advisory Council Margaret Doyle, Chair Alberta Arthurs
Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist
Beverly D’Anne Lisa Frigand
Faye Driscoll
Jenette Kahn Susan Micari Alton Murray Lorraine Gallard Lois Greenfield Martha Sherman
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