An immersive experience featuring dance, poetry, and excerpts from the feature film in progress
In 2019, renowned Oakland artists Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Brett Cook joined forces with Sarah Crowell, Rashidi Omari, and Risa Jaroslow from Destiny Arts Center, in an artistic collaboration with the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company and the Destiny Elders Project to create The Black (W)hole. The piece was to be a site-specific, interview-based, dance-theater project that focused on honoring the lives of six Black young people who died before the age of 32.
Working with the families of the “Young Ghosts,” the collaborative team devised a process of collective honoring, grieving, and healing, shaped by dance, poetry, and visual art. Set to premiere in 2020, all live shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the project pivoted to the creation of a feature film of the same name.
This special event marks the first public showing of The Black (W)hole community process and will feature Crowell, Omari, Jaroslow, Joseph, Cook, members of the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, and the Destiny Elders Project. The one-day-only series of performances will be staged inside of Brett Cook & Liz Lerman: Reflection & Action currently on view in the YBCA galleries, and will include footage of an in-progress documentary film focused on the original show.
Please note there will be three timed performances: 1pm, 2:30pm and 4pm. Each performance will last approximately 35 minutes and will feature the same content, performers, and choreography. Select the specific time you wish to attend when you click the RSVP link. Due to limited capacity for each performance, we kindly ask that you only RSVP to one, so that others from the community might also experience a viewing.