Cicada Saturday at Joe’s Movement Emporium, May 22, In Person

Cicada Saturday at Joe’s Movement Emporium, May 22, In Person

On Stage at Joe’s presents
Cicada Saturday: Two events.

Cicadas! Wow What a Bug!
Stories, Songs and Mores: Family Fun
Saturday May 22, 2021, at 3 pm

A Salute to the Cicada
A Variety Show, Adults Only!
Saturday May 22, 2021, at 7 pm

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium.

Cicadas! Wow What a Bug! Kay Taub is an entomologist, or “bug scientist.” She will share the unique biological story of the cicada. Storytelling, dance, and music will also be presented by local artists. If fate allows, a larger-than-life cicada might join in the fun!

A Salute to the Cicadas: A Variety Show to Revere and Razz Brood X is an evening dedicated to our prodigal neighbors who drop by for a visit every 17 years. Whether you believe as the ancient Greeks that these singing, reproductive-focused insects are gifts from the Muses or wish they’d go back into the holes they crawled out of, this event is for you! Joe’s has invited area performing artists both beloved and new to pay a tongue-in-cheek homage to one of the world’s oldest bugs. Recommended for ages 16+.

Masks are required for this in-person event.

Tickets $20 General Admission; $10 Seniors, Veterans, Under 16. Click here.

Hey White Girl at Joe’s Movement Emporium, May 8, In Person

Hey White Girl at Joe’s Movement Emporium, May 8, In Person

On Stage at Joe’s presents
Hey White Girl
Saturday May 8, 2021, at 7 pm

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium.

In the original form, our answer to “What do we want to achieve?” remains: An honest, vulnerable dialogue based on our collective willingness to listen across racial divides based on the shared experience of witnessing the performance.

As such, how we frame the conversation in performance can and should be rooted in the most relevant conversation for the community – which will impact the title. The current title, “Hey White Girl” came about organically as a subversive use of the phrase – my original collaborator, Greer Reed, uses the term affectionately with me; and she taught me the emergent strategy of “calling in” vs. “calling out”. It evolved with the version with Tuyet and I; and, I am excited to follow the work where it leads now. As such the description from our application may still be sound – with tweaks to the title as we decide on topic:

A duet between Americans dancing across the racial divide. They have come to the table, but now what? Featuring poetry and movement by Tuyet Pham and Kelly King. Hey White Girl is part of “Awkward Conversations” – A series of artistic interventions to help groups and individuals practice having difficult conversations. The audience is invited to participate in an Awkward Conversation following the performance.

An aside, I have lived in DC since 1998 (now in Brookland). I have seen the waves of gentrification – and have been tossed about the city as I was priced out of housing. We are all in the midst of the greatest trauma of a century with the pandemic. We are also in the greatest science experiment none of us signed up for with how zoom and other video technologies will impact our brains/bodies/and development. There are many, many topics we could (and should) explore. As a parent of three children, the inequalities in education right now (online access + curriculum) is staggering. Not to mention food and housing insecurity for the DMV. I say this to open us to the possibilities of topic. However, I think listening across racial divides is paramount to this work – as that is root genesis of the entire project. And, going deeper into my personal philosophy: I am here for love. My work is rooted in love-based activism: I set the table with love – it is what is served, shared, and generated by my work. I am rooted in the writings of adrienne marie brown, rev angel kyodo williams, and bell hooks for context on liberatory, love based activism.

Masks are required for this in-person event.

Tickets $20 General Admission; $10 Seniors, Veterans, Under 16. Click here.

I Am My Mother’s Tongue at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Apr 30, Online

I Am My Mother’s Tongue at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Apr 30, Online

NextLOOK Series:
Alina Collins Moldonado
I Am My Mother’s Tongue

April 30, 2021 . 7PM

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium

Through a series of actual interviews centering the relationship between Latinx mothers and their daughters, Alina Collins Maldonado offers us a bilingual, intimate portrayal of the Latinx experience as seen through its matriarchs. As she transforms into each interviewee, her one woman documentary theater piece explores the unanswered questions of cultural expectations passed down through generations.

This event is part of NextLOOK. A partnership between The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and Joe’s Movement Emporium, NextLOOK supports the development of new music, plays, dance and other experiences by regionally-based performing artists. These artists are mentored by seasoned arts administrators from The Clarice and Joe’s Movement Emporium to construct innovative methods of deepening the audience’s involvement in their creative process. By removing logistical barriers of cost and space and providing a sounding board for artists creating new work, NextLOOK invests in the regional arts ecology and creates an accessible, exploratory environment that connects intriguing artists with adventurous audiences.

Pay what you wish, $5 to $25 here.

Joe’s Movement Emporium presents The Gift, Mar 19, Online

Joe’s Movement Emporium and Clarice Smith presents The Gift, Mar 19, Online

NextLOOK featuring:
Rachel Grossman & Tosin Olufolabi:
The Gift

March 19, 2021 . 7PM

By: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Click here.

The Gift is an immersive, interactive performance that invites the audience to transition from self-reflection to action and advocacy over the course of the event. Sometime in the U.S.’s future, when most illnesses have been cured, two doctors host the first clinical trial for the societally destructive infectious agent Preston-Weche-Rhys – the source of white supremacy culture – with the audience cast as the subjects.

This event is part of NextLOOK. In partnership with Joe’s Movement Emporium, NextLOOK supports the development of new music, plays, dance and other experiences by regionally-based performing artists. These artists are mentored by seasoned arts administrators from The Clarice and Joe’s Movement Emporium to construct innovative methods of deepening the audience’s involvement in their creative process. By removing logistical barriers of cost and space and providing a sounding board for artists creating new work, NextLOOK invests in the regional arts ecology and creates an accessible, exploratory environment that connects intriguing artists with adventurous audiences.

Pay What You Wish, Online here.

The Final Genocide at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Jan 15

The Final Genocide at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Jan 15

NextLOOK: Dominic Green
The Final Genocide
Friday, January 15, 2021 . 7PM

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium

This performance will be presented in person at Joe’s Movement Emporium’s Outdoor Stage. Limited and socially distant seats will be available through their website. Masks are required to attend.

Set in the year 2093, this theatre work follows Davu, a young black man, through the ruins of a futuristic African-American history museum. There, Davu encounters androids who help him uncover a past unrealized, as they reenact stories of both the heroism and the destruction of Davu’s predecessors. The Final Genocide is a story of the possibilities and dangers faced by black men in America.

This event is part of NextLOOK. In partnership with Joe’s Movement Emporium, NextLOOK supports the development of new music, plays, dance and other experiences by regionally-based performing artists. These artists are mentored by seasoned arts administrators from The Clarice and Joe’s Movement Emporium to construct innovative methods of deepening the audience’s involvement in their creative process. By removing logistical barriers of cost and space and providing a sounding board for artists creating new work, NextLOOK invests in the regional arts ecology and creates an accessible, exploratory environment that connects intriguing artists with adventurous audiences.

Tickets start at $5, pay what you wish. Click here.