NEAR NEVER
2019
This original performance written by Jaleel Green is a dance/theater piece about a teenage boy who is killed by a police officer. It's presented through the perspective of his mother. As she looks back on different scenes of his life, she comes to terms with his death and makes the choice to open herself up to a community of mothers that have also lost their sons to police brutality, thus sacrificing her privacy and making the story part of the public narrative. Sitcom-esque scenes of remembrance are bookmarked by interludes of dance, projection, and soundscape exploring the mother's emotional state and its relationship with media and the public eye. In the end, the mother becomes part of an empowering community of women working to integrate empathy into stories of police violence. This project was most recently performed at The Old Gym at Bard College.
In collaboration with Jaleel Green
Lighting Design: Raif Wexler
Projection Design: Janine Rogers
Sound Design and Composition: Dean Sharp
Photo by Allegra Tsao Robinson
Photo by Allegra Tsao Robinson
Photo by Allegra Tsao Robinson
Photo by Allegra Tsao Robinson