BRATTLEBORO — On June 2 and 3, at 7 p.m., Vermont Performance Lab will present a preview of Virago-Man Dem at the New England Youth Theatre - a timely dance-theater work, created by choreographer Cynthia Oliver in collaboration with the all-male cast, that “unearths the complexities of blackness and masculinity,” according to a news release.
Known for incorporating textures of Caribbean performance with African and American aesthetic sensibilities, in Virago-Man Dem Oliver turns her gaze toward a nuanced exploration of the masculine.
Reflecting on the impetus for this new dance-theater work, Oliver writes: “It is my moral obligation to offer something else to the world that I know to be true about black men and this choreography is my medium to do so.”
Drawing from her extensive background in contemporary dance from Africanist and Euro-American cultural frameworks as well as her deep involvement in avant-garde theatrical traditions by black women in North America, Oliver has worked in close collaboration with a cast from the U.S. and the Caribbean (Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, and Niall Noel Jones) to unearth the complexities of the representation of black masculinities through movement, spoken language, and visual design.
The work also includes original music by composer Jason Finkelman and animation and visual design by graphic novelist and Afro-Futurist John Jennings.
Virago-Man Dem “resonates on multiple levels with men of color, with their loved ones and with allies of all races,” and speaks to those who connect to poetics, to movement, and to sonic and visual environments that reference the complex materials we use to manage adversity, according to the release.
Throughout the process, Oliver has asked, “How can a woman choreograph masculinity without resorting to stereotypes, but instead locate its nuances, challenges, and ambiguities?”
During her 2015 residency at VPL, part of Oliver's research included meeting with black men and interviewing them about their experiences living in Southern Vermont. Many of those conversations show up in Virago-Man Dem.