State of Play Festival: OYSTERKNIFE

State of Play Festival: OYSTERKNIFE

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State of Play Festival

OYSTERKNIFE: m | ou | f
 
Saturday, June 4, 6:30 PM
Argyle Studio, ODC Dance Commons 


Premiered at Surge, UC Santa Cruz's Afrofuturism Festival, this excerpt of the triptych closing piece m|ou|f aims to reclaim Black iconicity from the maw of celebrity culture. Having explored the legacies of violence and faith for blaQ communities in our prior projects, mouth full of sea and mouth//full, our latest collaboration is a meditation on visibility, opacity, sexuality, and the desire of & for queer(ed) Black stars. Using drag, ritual masquerade, original music, and choreography, we investigate the voices that made us question ourselves in the most delicious and fruitful of ways.

ASL interpretation will be provided at this event. Captioning will be available on this Digital Encore. Please contact the ODC Box Office with accessibility requests or questions boxoffice@odc.dance.

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About

  • OYSTERKNIFE

    OYSTERKNIFE––derived from a famous Zora Neale Hurston essay––was born out of a longtime creative friendship between Gabriele Christian (they/them) and Chibueze Crouch (she/they). Feeding a desire to subvert theatrical upbringings that often ignored our complex Black + Queer (or BlaQ) experiences, we've formed an interdisciplinary approach that nourishes fuller versions of our work. OYSTERKNIFE has interrogated Black archetypes and racialized tropes in Western sociohistorical institutions, including the transatlantic slave trade, the Christian Church, the American counterculture movement, and celebrity culture. Through nonhierarchical collaboration, we revise common historical narratives to negotiate with the archive on our own terms.

Tickets

Free Community Event Highlight

Image c/o OYSTERKNIFE

All ticket sales are final. Performances, dancers, and guest artists subject to change.

Proof of vaccination is required for all in-person activities. Starting March 1, 2022, up to date vaccination status is required. Learn more at odc.dance/reopening.