by Tereneh Idia
“I can sit and I can make an hour-long piece, all the steps are from me, but the interpretation becomes something else. With each person, that feeds the work in the most beautiful way”
Can five bad bitches share a stage?
In CIRCLES the answer is a resounding, yes and with fierce fire, care-filled collaboration and love.
When CIRCLES first premiered at the New Hazlett Theater in 2019 the dance was around 10 minutes long but after, as Staycee Pearl said, “We dug in more to each section” of the dance, the piece is now around 1 hour long. A one hour long love letter to Black women and femmes.
On a personal note I remember watching the premier of CIRCLES at the Hazlett Theater. I did not know what the dance was going to be about but it was quickly apparent that it was about me, about Black women. Sitting in the audience I remember feeling a sense of weightlessness, as if I was being lifted up and carried by the dancers. The heaviness of the misogynoir world was gone from my shoulders while, like on stage, a “crown” - in the words of Maya Angelo and in the moves of Staycee Pearl - “my crown that has already been bought and paid for” is placed on my head.
The confidence that I was feeling as a spectator is also felt by the dancers.
STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos dancers LaTrea Derome ; photo by Steve Pisano
“There's something about the movement and fierceness…that adds to my performance that helps me tap into the work,” dancer and rehearsal director, LaTrea Derome Rembert said,
An important part of this process is the way Staycee develops the dance, balancing her vision and choreography.
“As a visual artist, I always take note of because, it is only up to you…it is between you and a paintbrush or you and a pencil or computer and that’s that…But with bodies in the room and souls in the room and personalities…it is never just you.” Staycee explained.
“I can sit and I can make an hour-long piece, all the steps are from me, but the interpretation becomes something else. With each person, that feeds the work in the most beautiful way… we even take that a step further and ask them to generate actual movement based on prompts and journaling and looking at other artwork and thinking about things … it was more important to me that they are comfortable within their personalities. So, they could become confident in what they're doing …to do the most authentic version of whatever it was that they present.” Staycee said.
LaTrea concurred, “One thing I like about this particular work is that a lot of the phrase work is Staycee, but it's also from us too.”
So back to the five bad bitches on stage and is camaraderie and collaboration all there is?
Staycee said, “Yeah, no that’s so funny you asked that…I set out for it to be a supportive kind of camaraderie. But I think there’s a little shade here and there, a tiny bit of competition.”
LaTrea added that due the history and heritage of some of the choreography, taking cues from house, dance hall and Vogue culture, competition is part of the soul of the dance, but so is community, belonging and celebration.
“I think the fun in that…We know we’re bad bitches and we’re bad bitches together.” LaTrea said.
Staycee is not the kind of artist to dictate what the audience should feel but she does have a wish.
“I want the audience, especially Black women to feel seen and heard. And uplifted, celebrated and just feel good. CIRCLES is a flower for Black women. I didn't originate the idea of flowers for black women [as a social art practice] that's why Bekezela Mguni is part of the gallery show. But I'm adapting it because I love the idea of it. I've had the experience. Bekezela and the Black Unicorn Library and Archives sent them to me. It was life affirming. So I wanted this to be life affirming for everyone but especially for Black women.”
All events for CIRCLES are to be held at the: August Wilson African American Cultural Center 980 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Buy tickets at: https://aacc-awc.org/event/circles-going-in/
CIRCLES: going in (Dance Premiere) Thursday, October 28 | 8:00 PM Friday, October 29 | Performance: 8:00 PM | Reception: 9:00 PM Saturday, October 30 | 8:00 PM
Co-Presented with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Kelly Strayhorn Theater, CIRCLES: going in is a full-length dance work celebrating #BlackGirlMagic. Layering dance, visual arts, and a live original score, the work presents snapshots of popular culture through Choreographer Staycee Pearl’s lens as a Black woman. CIRCLES is a colorful, unapologetic, and daring path to self-reclamation. CIRCLES is amplified by an original soundtrack created by Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl in collaboration with a diverse roster of club artists including DJ Haram, Yah Lioness, Madame Delores, DOTGOV, Queen Jo & more!
CIRCLES: reclamation (Gallery Exhibition) Opening Reception: Saturday, October 9 | 6:00-9:00 PM Viewing Dates: October 9-31 Gallery Hours: Thu - Fri, 3pm - 8pm, Sat - Sun, 12pm - 5pm
CIRCLES: reclamation is presented as part of CIRCLES: going in, an unapologetic, full-length dance work celebrating #BlackGirlMagic. Immerse yourself in this art exhibit featuring Black visual artists including Staycee Pearl, Bekezela Mguni, Kitoko Chargois, and sarah huny young. Works will draw from their shared explorations of Blackness and self-reclamation.
Tereneh Idia is an award-winning designer and writer focused on issues of social justice, environment, design, arts and culture.
Her work has appeared in Pittsburgh City Paper, PublicSource, New Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AfroPunk, The North Star, StarTrek.com, The Frick Museum Pittsburgh and the book, TENDER a literary anthology & book of spells: evidence.
Her journalism awards include: Winner of the Golden Quill 2019 and 2020 for best columnist in daily paper and nominated again in 2021. The Robert L Vann Pittsburgh Black Media Federation Award for 2020. The 2020 Association of Alternative News Media Best Column Billy Manes Award winner for best column in the United States and Canada, nominated again in 2021.
She was a costume designer for STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos’ Abby: In The Red.
CIRCLES is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Joyce Theater, and NPN. More information: www.npnweb.org. CIRCLES was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Co-commissioning Partners are Kelly Strayhorn Theater, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, and The Joyce Theater. The development of CIRCLES is made possible in part by the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron). CIRCLES is supported in part by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Fund, Heinz Endowments, and The Opportunity Fund.