PERFORMANCES
Notes on Survival is a multimedia performance that shifts between moments of protest, rest and pure joy. Anchored in both the public and private experiences of Black Oklahoman Womxn activists, this dance-theater piece questions if Black Womxn can and should save us. We gather across time and space to share notes about what it means to truly be free in the fight for racial and gender equity.
This performance is a collaborative effort featuring the artistic labor of Marie Casimir, Grace Franklin, Fabian Garcia, Angel Little, Matt Miller, Gay Pasley, Ahkamaye Perry, Jessica Ray, J'aime Griffith and Joy Douglas. We also acknowledge the labor and contributions of activists Sheri Dickerson, Grace Franklin, Camille Landry, Sincere Terry and Aleah Walker.
NOTES ON SURVIVAL, 2021
This performance is supported by a partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary and a Creative Projects Grant from Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
Presented by Djaspora Productions | Directed by Marie Casimir
Featuring Marie Casimir, Ahkamye Perry and Jessica Ray
Society’s Cage is a timely, interpretive installation born in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
The performance reckons with institutional racism and white supremacy, featuring a bold interpretive pavilion sculpted to symbolize the historic forces of racialized state violence. The experience educates visitors and functions as a sanctuary to reflect, record, and share personal thoughts. It is conceived in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as a mechanism for building empathy and healing.
Society's Cage is designed as a traveling installation and has previously been exhibited in Washington, DC on the National Mall, in Baltimore, Maryland on War Memorial Plaza, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to coincide with the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and in Oakland, California, home of the Black Panther Party.
We move and breathe in the space for 8 min 46 secs. in response to the installation and the moment.
SOCIETY’S CAGE, 2020
Installation Designed by Dayton Schroeter, Julian Arrington, Monteil Crawley, Ivan O’Garro
Location: Venrnon A.M.E. Church, Tulsa Oklahoma
Choreography by Marie Casimir & J’aime Griffith
Photos: Jamie Glisson
Inspired by the epilogue of Edwidge Danticat’s book Krik-Krak, this piece explores female ancestry speaking through our bodies and our breath, asking us to create in the midst of oppressive forces. The work not only pays homage to the ancestors of the performers but features the creative work of three generations of outspoken Haitian artists including Danticat, Toto Bissainthe, and Sabine Blazin of Oyasound and Marie Casimir.
WOMEN LIKE US, 2018
Commission by World Literature Today for the 2018 Neustadt Festival Honoring Edwidge Danticat.
Choreographed by Marie Casimir
Performed by Maureen Azzun, Tessa Fungo, Hanna Golden, Keyve Martin, Bethey Ruble, Alexis Tella, Breanna Troutman, and Reese Twenter.
MY MOTHER’S LABOR (IN MY COUNTRY I WAS…), 2017
Casimir’s mother moved from Haiti to the US at the age of 36. Like most immigrants, she had to start completely over.
my mother’s labor (In My Country I Was…) is a movement and storytelling piece that delves into my mother’s immigrant labor and the residual points of physical and emotional pain left behind after years of domestic and care-taking work. The piece asks the audience to contribute their own stories of labor to reveal where experiences overlap and where they diverge.
