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- DANCING GRAVES - - ABOUT THE LUKUMI ARTS ASSOCIATION -
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DANCING GRAVES Dancing Graves is a groundbreaking theatrical performance that weaves together two narratives about Chicago’s West side through an Afro-Cuban lens. Mercedes, the main character, leaves Cuba for the U.S. after a huge storm hits the island. This hurricane symbolizes that Mercedes should leave the island for the best interests of her family. Arriving on Chicago’s West Side illuminates Mercedes and her family’s Afro-Cuban religious practices, specifically Spiritism and Santería. They use these practices in their daily lives to deal with the violence and difficulty of "getting by" in their new home. When the matriarch of the family passes away, the performance turns to an artistic interpretation of her journey after death, incorporating Afro-Cuban religious mythology concerning the afterlife; her spirit joins the world of the ancestors and “meets” the cemetery orishas (Afro-Cuban Santeria deities): Oyá, Obba and Yewá. Oyá guards the gates of the cemetery and represents storms, destruction which allows rebirth; Obba cuts off her left ear in devotion as a faithful wife to the masculine orisha Shangó. Yewá represents the decomposition of the body and is a pristine virgin that vanishes to live among the dead rather than the corrupt world of men and orishas. We have conducted interviews with various Southside and Westside residents along with community activists, Afro-Cuban immigrants, artists and orisha practitioners discussing community violence and grappling with family deaths. These interviews make up the second narrative for the performance. On the one hand this performance probes our personal fears about aging and dying, our emotions in experiencing deaths of loved ones and living in communities ridden with violence. On the other hand it articulates an uncommon metaphysical world-view of spirits and orishas from Afro-Cuban religious traditions. The project features a diverse collaboration of emerging scholars, dancers, university students, Chicago youth, visual artists alongside a generation of Afro-Cuban folkloric song, dance and percussion virtuosos in the United States. The featured Afro-Cuban guest performers are from New York City, Washington DC and Miami. Such a rare artistic collaboration in Chicago will powerfully reach out to diverse Chicago audiences and foster cross-cultural relations in a racially divided city. Collectively rethinking the process of death across diverse academic, artistic and religious communities furthers dialogues on violence and death. While this performance cannot resolve community divisions, it will articulate a new perspective within Chicago. Dancing Graves premieres on October 18, 2008, 7:30PM, at the International House, 1414 E. 59th St., Chicago IL 60637; see the I-House online at http://www.ihouse.uchicago.edu. Persons with disabilities may request assistance in advance by calling the Office of Programs and External Relations at International House at 773-753-2274. Thank you for your support! |
