Reminder: Ampey! by Tamar Whitaker at CounterPULSE @ Thu Nov 18 8pm - 9pm (Queer Things)

more details » Ampey! by Tamar Whitaker at CounterPULSE What: Ampey! New Work by Fall 2010 Artist in Residence Adia Tamar Whitaker When: Thursday - Sunday, November 11-21 Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 3pm Where: CounterPULSE 1310 Mission Street @ 9th, San Francisco Tickets: Online before 9/30 - $14, Online after 9/30 - $19, At the Door - $24 Web: http://www.counterpulse.org About the Artist: Adia Tamar Whitaker is one of the youngest professional choreographers and master teachers of Afro-Haitian folkloric dance in the United States. A former member of Blanche Brown's Group Petit La Croix and Colette Eloi's Reconnect, she has studied and performed Afro-Haitian dance in the U.S. and abroad for 13 years. Her artistic work focuses on neo-folklore of the African diaspora, linking contemporary modern dance, original vernacular movement, and traditional dance theater. Recently Whitaker completed the first part of a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study grant in Ghana. After a recent trip to Ghana, Adia Tamar Whitaker returned to the U.S. with a new perspective on her identity. Whitaker, who was raised in the Afro-Haitian community of the Bay Area, embarked on her trip to Ghana to explore the connections between her African roots and her African American culture. "I never had a relationship to my American citizenship until I went to Africa," admits Whitaker, who now recognizes her unique experience as a member of the diaspora. She has taught and practiced African diaspora-inspired "Neo-Folkloric" dance and music for the past 11 years. Creating Ampey! served to incorporate a deeper understanding of the Dahomean roots of Afro-Haitian dance into the contemporary American practice of "Neo-Folkloric" dance. Her interactions and experience with the people of Ghana have shaped her newest work. Ampey! derives its name from a rhythmic competition game in Ghana in which two opponents try to catch each other off-guard. "The piece is about the disconnect that happens between African Americans and African people," says Whitaker. With short-cropped hair and a lighter skin tone than those around her, people in Ghana labeled her a "white man" who danced and sang like an "African woman." Whitaker recalls: "Everywhere I went, people laughed, hid, [and] pointed." With Ampey!, Whitaker enters into relationship with her ancestors, negotiating their legacy as it surfaces in the work. "The ancestors don't work on the same time as we do," she explains. "So when they want to speak to us, or they want us to reveal something, it may be inconvenient for us." The piece stretches across time from ancestors to elders to youth, giving each generation expression in a blend of tradition and innovation. Whitaker acknowledges this simultaneous cross-generational existence, "I get to stand in front of my elders and be me. And also be them." Through riveting ensemble dance, music and media, Whitaker takes the audience to Africa with her. "For 53 days, Ghana and I played Ampey! I'm still trying to figure out who won." The work will premiere this fall as part of Performing Diaspora at CounterPULSE. When Thu Nov 18 8pm – 9pm Pacific Time Calendar Queer Things Who • larrybob@gmail.com - creator

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