Ava Paul

DNC 1-002
Dance Performance Review
11/14/18

Black Surveillance

On Saturday, September 29th, 2018 the piece What Remains was performed by Leslie

Cuyjet, Jessica Pretty, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, and Tara Aisha Willis. The event took place in

East Village, Danspace Project. This piece was a blend between Claudia Rankine and Will

Rawls. Rankine is a poet and a MacArthur Fellow, while Rawls is a choreographer and a recipi-

ent of the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer. The text and movement

moved coherently together. Rankine’s work consists of boundaries in race, economy, and cul-

ture. Rawls is a creator of art, he is a performer himself, but also choreographer. Rawls has had

his work displayed at the Brooklyn Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place and etc.

Their work together is a masterpiece, showing black lives and what goes on in their everyday

lives. Each dancer had their own struggle but in all they shared the same kind of struggle;

whether the struggle was walking home or trying to communicate with other people. What Re-

mains is a full body of work that presented the surveillance on black peoples’ lives.

In the first sequence, the dancers divided up equally: 2 on the right side and the other 2

on the left side. They entered the space slowly inspecting each other. There was a discomfort in

their movement, that left the audience feeling uneasy. As soon as the dancers entered the space

their movements were distorted, as if being on the marley they were all subjected to something

they didn’t want. They wanted to be free of the discomfort. Laban efforts that were used during

this section were indirect, bound, and strong. The music was made by their mouths. The sounds

of terror and huge sighs would convey the pain to the audience. There was a repetition to each of
the dancers’ movements. Once a dancer was on the ground they would try slowly and methodi-

cally to get back up again. They would reach their knees and then go back to where they started.

Each time getting closer and closer to standing. The feet of the dancers were never pointed, they

were always flat footed and close to the ground. The dancers were one with the ground in a way

that was animalistic. The dancers had to use their foot to floor relationship, because the dancers

were moving in very awkward positions, they had to really know their body and use their core

strength to stay grounded and safe. Rawls didn’t use any stereotypes, in fact the opposite. The

piece was so abstract in its movements. In this part of the dance sequence, each dancer had their

own different movement, the solo act. The movement was very fluid, but abrupt. The costumes

were large pieces of black fabric that glimmered, but this made it hard for the audience to see the

isolations of the body. The idea of this piece was clear, but art is subjective and especially with

this performance, Rawls left room for interpretation.

The second dance sequence was the walking. Three dancers were used for this section

and made a triangle. The third dancer went to the back and played on the sound board. This was

unlike regular walking. After a few steps they would hover and look back over their shoulder.

The Laban efforts that were used were light, direct, and sustained but quick at some moments.

The dancer’s movement was light because they moved with such grace, but direct because they

had to get to where they needed to go before anything could catch them or hurt them. Their

moves were sustained because they moved with no interruption and with ease. The music that

was used is hard to even call music. The sounds were all different tones of reverb. The music

was so deafening that the audience couldn’t escape it; trapped with the dancers and the audience

has to go through what the dancers go through. The lighting was mesmerizing. The different col-

ors made the costumes no longer appear black, but red. The red symbolized the fear of death.
The dancers moved with such purpose and were completely in sync with each other. Their align-

ment in this piece was very compelling because they had to have once again good floor and foot

relation, but also their coordination with each other was strong. The walking went back and forth

between slouching and standing up right. The dancers had to keep their core activated throughout

the entire sequence so that they could move with grace and control. They all moved as one liv-

ing, breathing being. The dance was very repetitive and conveyed the constant awareness that

black people have to keep, in order to stay alive. Rankine says, “So you’re always thinking, can I

walk at night?…Can I have my cell phone out? If it glitters, will someone think it’s a gun?” Even

though the women were scared at moments, there walk was fierce. They walked in a collective

group and that is what women have to do to be safe. This piece was extremely effective because

the music, the lighting, and movement made the audience heighten their awareness and fully im-

merse themselves in the minds of the dancers, in the minds of black women.

The third movement incorporated just the three female dancers scattered on the marley.

The dancers got into a position on their hands and knees or some form on the ground rocking

back and forth. The back and forth movement was very violent in a way. The Laban efforts used

were quick, heavy, and direct. The dancers were direct because their movement to one place

back and forth made it clear their direction. The dancers were quick because they were moving

with such force behind them. Also the effort heavy was used because the dancers would almost

throw themselves to the floor and go back and forth. The music was again deafening, forcing the

audience to bear it. Then the reverb became the normal. The audience became very tense, be-

cause the energy in the space was high. The audience was also uncomfortable because it con-

veyed the idea of rape. The women were going back and forth, sighing, grunting, and heavily

breathing. Again, the piece was very animalistic. Because most of the women were in forward
lunging positions, they had to have the right positioning of their bodies to stay in these stances

for long, moving with such force. Rawls was trying to make the audience uncomfortable and

face what is happening to women everyday. Black women are being taken advantage of and con-

stantly being put down in society. The piece was very effective because it was clear that rape was

the idea being conveyed, but hard to watch because it was so disturbing.

Throughout the entire performance, there were parts in between the dance sequences

where the dancers would go to a corner, where they each had their own microphone and make

the most beautiful harmonies. The blending of their voices were incredible. Then there were

sounds of just sighs and speech. Towards the end, the dancers would sing, “I don’t want to be

taunted on the street.” Little moments where Rankine’s message would come through. Rankine

says, “One thing about being black in America—you have to curtail your movements, to live in

such a way that what the white gaze projects upon blackness will not end your life.” The move-

ments were of black people that were in pain of being looked at and judged or worse killed. This

whole piece embodied the strength of black people, the discomforts of black people, and the bur-

dens placed on black people, through body alignment and foot and floor relation.