ROOTS OF
Grounds That Shout!
(reprinted from the program booklet)
By Reggie Wilson, Artistic Director
...they stood shaking, while others
began to shout is meant to be a
dynamic tapestry that connects
the past with the present, created
in response to Church of
the Advocate, its archi-
tecture, history, and
presence. The movement
material is reconfigured
and reimagined from its
The procession performance piece of
Grounds That Shout! spanned three
historic city blocks and included five
performance groups—all with a unique
performance style—taking audiences of
up to 150 people on a two-and-a-half-hour
journey. Three performances of this
journey occurred over the course of one
day cycling every 90 minutes.
Finally, audience members settled
within Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church for
“sanctuary,” performed by Tania Isaac
along with six of Mother Bethel’s Exalt
and Praise Dance Ministry members. This
culmination of a long journey rested
inside the founding church of the A.M.E.
denomination. The performance was
breathtaking and heartfelt, focusing on
originally shaped form
that was created to be
consistent with and bring
attention to the architec-
ture, site, and history of
New York’s St. Mark’s
Church-in-the-Bowery as
part of the Danspace
Project Platform I cu-
rated in 2018.
Influenced by recent
research into Black
Shakers, particularly
prominent Shaker
Eldress Mother Rebecca
Cox Jackson, this work
also folds in thinking of
the Ibeji, an orisha (god)
of the Yoruba religion
represented by twins;
Mother Bethel AME Church’s Exalt and Praise Dancers as part of Tania
Isaac’s sanctuary, for Grounds that Shout! procession. Credit: Daniel Kontz
considers the problems and
dynamics of duets and pairing;
and also includes reflection on my
1995 work, The Littlest Baptist,
which incorporated my
investigations into the US deep
South and Trinidad and Tobago. I
revisited The Littlest Baptist with an
eye for reclaiming movement
material created after research
travels that traced my family roots
in the US South, and Spiritual
Baptist retentions in the twin-
island country of Trinidad and
Tobago; this work is an early
example of how my field research
was synthesized into performance
theater.
Meg Foley’s “body ground” in St.
Peter’s cemetery connected the audiences’
bodies and souls to the very ground they
stood on. In “Malo,” the company
moved the audience to the adjoining
cemetery at Old Pine, paying homage to
the mysteries of connecting one to the
other. Inside Old Pine’s sanctuary, Lela
Aisha Jones’ “...the bottom... up Catching
Souls” reflected on an otherworldly
presence watching over all, benevolent but
always separate from humanity. Almanac
Dance Circus Theatre’s “People; or What’s
Left in the Grain” transported the
audience from Old Pine’s interior and
moved everyone one-and-a-half blocks
into Mother Bethel. Almanac’s piece
centered on Philadelphia’s Jamaica Day
riots, which have Nativist and Anti-
Catholic roots.
Mother Bethel’s own journey as a
community of faith. This final piece was
interwoven with a live violinist, choir
member, and a poem written by Tania
Isaac. It was a moving finale capping two
weeks of innovative and interactive
programs.
The performances were supported by
three panel discussions. Each powerful
and informative panel took on a separate
aspect of the project. Conversations
revolved around dissecting the history
and power of dance, exploring the
complicated histories of institutional
faiths through the lens of native lands,
and exploring the project’s rich emotional
depth, sophisticated artistic complexity,
and reverence for the “cloud of witnesses”
that has gone before in each of these
sacred places.
SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2019
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