Dancing Futures: asmara + Penelope Montilla, Lia Aleman, and Alivea Allen

Pepatian Presents, Dancing Futures: asmara with Penelope Montilla, Lia Jade Aleman, and Alivea Allen

In examining and scrutinizing historic and contemporary relationships between Black women , certain truths are distilled, and Venus has 4 eyes is rooted in these truths. In Sadiya Hartman’s essay, "Venus in Two Acts," Venus is one of two kidnapped women who died aboard the Trans-Atlantic slave ship, the Recovery. The only record of Venus and this other, unnamed woman’s life is, in fact, their deaths. This suggests that the only significance to a Black woman’s life is the violence she endures that eventually results in her demise. Venus has 4 eyes disrupts this prescriptive narrative by imagining the relationships these two women may have shared in the midst of white supremacist [psychosis] violence, thus intervening into the ease with which the world accepts our death. Drawing on Lorde’s work, "Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger", which explores the challenges in contemporary relationships between Black women, as well as lived experiences, and alternative archives, this performance embodies the journey of choosing to be vulnerable with another person through interpersonal intimacy, posing the inquiry: Can interpersonal relationships forge a path to freedom in captive circumstances? This piece aims to permeate the vacant chasm in the historical archive of Black women being forcibly moved to the Western Hemisphere, including the infinite possibilities these women opened up for each other.

*November 14th is a BIPOC sacred space. If you are a white person or experience white-privledge (despite cultural ethnicity), please plan to attend the November 15th show. If you are a BIPOC person, you are welcome to attend either night, but encouraged to share space with us on November 14th. Each performance is specific to the audience.*

Produced in partnership with Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative

Event Location: BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Westchester Avenue, The Bronx, NY, USA