The Becoming

Event Details

Shavon Norris (artist, educator, facilitator) is placing herself in the continuum of Black womanhood. In collaboration with legendary dancer, professor and choreographer Germaine Ingram, she is embracing and investigating the role of elder to five women, ages 11 through 40.

The resulting project, "The Becoming," features three elements: Portraits, recorded audio of interviews, and live activations/performances. (To learn more about the ideas and process behind this project, check out this Q&A from ArtPhilly.)

Germaine Ingram: "This is about the young women participating in this project, but it's also a way of thinking about how, in the larger society — and I'm particularly focused on Philadelphia —  the crisis for young black women and girls can become more visible so that we as a community can develop more strategies of support and uplift."

Shavon Norris: "I'm curious about what I need to do for them and how I can support them. Like this little small group, for me, is a microcosm. Getting really specific in art allows us to see the universal — what is cultural for us, what is systemic for us, what we need to tend to. I'm interested in inviting our voices to be heard, and having my body be one of the ones to listen and sit at their feet, like I'm sitting at Germaine’s."

Gallery Hours: June 4-5, noon - 7 p.m.

Activations: June 6-7 at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

After the June 7th activation: Join Xander Cobb from thINKingDANCE, Philadelphia’s independent dance criticism journal, after the performance for “Write Back Atcha!” a post-show talk-back and mini-writing workshop. Xander will guide you through a discussion of the performance and exploration of language you can use to describe dance. You’ll have an opportunity to see your words published in a crowd-sourced “review” on www.thinkingdance.net

Project Description

Movement/theater artist Shavon Norris invited 4 Black female-identifying Philadelphians between the ages of 13 and 39 to participate in an interview/oral history process designed to probe the conditions, challenges and opportunities that Black girls and young women face as they approach adulthood and middle age. Interview excerpts, along with still/video portraits fuel development of individual and collective storytelling, choreography, rediscovered and newly-created rituals, and songs. The “reveal” for the project is an exhibition of the portraits and listening booths for hearing/viewing excerpts of the interviews. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to record their own responses to prompts that focus on how they perceive present-day conditions and prospects for Black women and girls, and how Black women can foster positive change and provide guidance and support for themselves, their families and communities. On the final day of the exhibition, project participants will present/perform artifacts of their storytelling, gestures and choreography, songs, and rituals.