INTERDISCIPLINARY TAP DANCE ARTIST
The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE Collection is Michael J. Love's triptych of performance installations that sample and loop various media and sounds to envision sites of liberation. The series includes Part I: GON' HEAD AND PUT YOUR RECORDS ON! as well as Part II: DOPE FIT! and PART III: (RHY)PISTEMOLOGY! (OR, TO KNOW THROUGH THE RHYTHM).
The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE COLLECTION,
Part II: DOPE FIT!
LINER NOTES//
The second installment of Love’s The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE Collection sees the tap dance artist and an ensemble of artists, thinkers, and collaborators pair movement, rhythm, music, text, and voice with a distinct millennial hip-hop sensibility to create and live in their own metaphysical utopia. The piece moves through the Black cultural archive and enlivens spirited visions of futurity through an intersectional lens. DOPE FIT! is performed entirely to live-mixed and looped tap dance, body percussion, and triggered drum sample compositions.
The development of DOPE FIT! began during a week-long workshop in August 2018, made possible by a Go! Grant from The Cohen New Works Festival. The premiere version of DOPE FIT! was a choreographic collaboration between Love and artist Kaitlyn B. Jones.
TRACKLIST//
In the spirit of the throwback Black music curation and vocal/performance methodology of mixtape-making, DOPE FIT! is an auralvisual mixtape comprised of seven tracks. Live performance is merged with original projections by mixed media artist Cindy Elizabeth and anti-disciplinary artist Aryel René Jackson. All of the music in the world of DOPE FIT! is live-composed by way of looping/ sampling stations and other technology. Tracks include: 1. LIFT EV'RY VOICE Breathing in, exhaling, meditating on legacy through song. 2. TELL THEM Continuing to breathe, making assertions, organizing sounds into rhythms. Exploring possibility through call and response. 3. UNEARTH Stacking rhythms and giving them shape. Holding space together and holding space for each other. Pursing reclamation through repetition. 4. SUGAR Employing dialogic methodologies of our recent past as we examine our current relationship to materials our families were enslaved to harvest. 5. UNSUBMERGE Continuing to breathe and experimenting with stillness. Creating shapes and phrases out of natural rhythms. Revisiting our effort to reclaim through repetition. 6. DISCIPLES Defining beauty for ourselves. 7. RISE Combining methods and engaging in them all simultaneously. Indulging in hope through our continued breathing.
CREDITS//
As premiered as a work-in-progress at The Cohen New Works Festival
on Monday, April 15 and Tuesday, April 16, 2019:
Written by Michael J. Love
Choreographed and Directed by Kaitlyn B. Jones and Michael J. Love
Lyrics by Faith Hillis
Projection Design by Aryel René Jackson
Vocal Coaching by Ari L. Monts
Dramaturgy by siri gurudev, Faith A. Hillis, and Ari L. Monts
Production Stage Management by Amariah K. Williams
Cast members include Jayla Ball, Sydnie Brown, Amaya Coleman, Deja Criston, Faith Hillis, Matthew James, Michael J. Love, Toni Neal, Indya McKnight, Myrah Porter (Rehearsal Assistant), Azari Sumbler, Khorii Tinson, and Kennedy Woodard.
The premiere includes the original video DISCIPLES as filmed and edited by Cindy Elizabeth and featuring Christina Blake, Alex Cunningham, Sophie Monegro, Dominique Scott, and Tiana Wilson.
The premiere also includes the original voice-based work SUGAR, which includes text and performances by Sydnie Brown, Amaya Coleman, Deja Criston, Faith Hillis, Indya McKnight, Amariah K. Williams, and Kennedy Woodard.
As presented in full during ARCOS presents Michael J. Love: Two Weekends of Tap at The Carver
on Friday, September 20; Saturday, September 21; and Sunday, September 22, 2019:
Written by Michael J. Love
Choreographed and Directed by Kaitlyn B. Jones and Michael J. Love
Lyrics by Faith Hillis
Vocal Coaching by Ari L. Monts
Dramaturgy by siri gurudev, Faith A. Hillis, and Ari L. Monts
Cast Members include Sydnie Brown, Deja Criston, Faith Hillis, Mykaela Johnson, Kaitlyn B. Jones, Michael J. Love, Indya McKnight, Toni Neal, Myrah Porter, Azari Sumbler, and Khorii Tinson.
The full presentation includes the original video The future is a constant wake. by Aryel René Jackson and Michael J. Love.
The full presentation includes the original video DISCIPLES as filmed and edited by Cindy Elizabeth and featuring Christina Blake, Alex Cunningham, Sophie Monegro, Dominique Scott, and Tiana Wilson.
The full presentation also includes the original voice-based work SUGAR, which includes text and performances by Sydnie Brown, Amaya Coleman, Deja Criston, Faith Hillis, Indya McKnight, Amariah K. Williams, and Kennedy Woodard.