Choreographed by Assistant Artistic Director Solomon Bowser and Winifred, I am (not) this body premiered in November 2018 at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago. The work explores how we view "different" bodies (the bodies of women, children, and people of color), and how those bodies and the humans inside them seem to be invisible or to have less value. 

 

IANTB was originally presented in 3 sections: Fringe, Tender Care, and MATTER. Fringe expresses the challenges and frustrations of women with gestures and movement sequences about body shaming, and attempts to be heard. Tender Care is about the bodies of children and the family separations that occur at the US/Mexico border. MATTER is about the many nuanced daily experiences of black people.

 

IANTB features music by Marika Hackman, Olivia Block, Agnes Obel, Willis Earl Beal, Nina Simone, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Anna Meredith, Laura Mvula, David Tate, Julius Block & Nicholas Prout. Lighting design is by Kathryn Sirico.

 

Performers at the premiere included: Dexter Bishop, Ariel M. Dorsey, Michael Gee, Amanda Milligan, Talia Koylass, Marceia Scruggs, Summer Hope Smith, and Jasmin Williams