By Kitoko Chargois
PearlArts Studios
…on being… first premiered in 2013 at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. The evening length production opened up a dialogue around blackness and post-blackness, ultimately exploring personal identifiers and their impact on self perception and one's place community. Cheorographer/Executive Director Staycee Pearl says …on being… was inspired by a personal experience where her blackness had been questioned. “It made me realize that there were some who rated and measured Blackness based on historically white supremacist standards masquerading as Black/African traditions,” she said.
Since its premiere, …on being… has been alive in many different iterations with different dancers taking on different roles, and the changes in dynamic adding layers of meaning. We caught up with two dancers who danced the same duet, but 5 years apart to get their reaction on each other’s duets. In the video below, Ethan Gwynn, who was in the original 2013 production of …of being…, and LaTrea Rembert, who was in the 2018 restaging of the work, watch each other’s duets and offer some insight into what was going through their minds when taking on this duet that explored the relationship between 2 people in the context of their sexuality, gender, and race.
Ethan Gwynn reacts to LaTrea Rembert and Jessica Marino’s duet from the 2018 restaging of …on being…
LaTrea Rembert reacts to Ethan Gwynn and Seth Grier’s duet from the original 2013 production of …on being…
STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos is celebrating its 10th anniversary and the birthday of our cofounder/choreographer Staycee Pearl all of May with a month-long retrospective to honor the company’s history of innovative dance, multimedia experiences, and meaningful collaborations. In honor of our 10th anniversary, we’ll be sharing a series of blog posts dedicated to giving you an inside look at our productions through the decade.
If you’re just tuning into our anniversary series, be sure to check out our Anniversary retrospective series here: