2020 Is one of the more fuller artistic years that I have had in my career. Not only am I premiering a new work but I am also reinventing a past work as well as facilitating space for my current collaborators to flourish. We are putting on 3 major productions all in one year with 3 different performing arts organizations & thats just the beginning!
This includes the premiere of Working (Undecided Title) or W(UT) at On the Boards in April, an immediate reimagining of W(UT) at the ACT Theater in June and a revisit of my talk show “Its Not Too Late” in partnership with the CD Forum and Langston Hughes in November. Which premiered at On the Boards in 2016 right after the presidential election.
I’ve always been inclined to meet my audiences face to face. No need for a fourth wall. I approach creating by using platforms of comfort like a talk show or dance party night at a club. I feel that entering into spaces that are familiar allows audience members to bring their full experience with them. This is where I can begin to challenge thoughts of engagement, privilege, class, race, complacency and so much more. I also realized that I can only do so much by my self, the need for a team of collaborators became very apparent & then boom the birth of the NoGoodDoers!!!
The NoGoodDoers are:
Laura Aschoff: an action-artist. She makes a wide range of performance works with her crew the GRIEF GIRLS and her collaboration with Markeith Wiley, Cilvia_Sylvia.
Randy Ford: a Seattle-born dancer, choreographer, actor, activist, curator, and educator. She has been featured in Dani Tirrell’s Black Bois, BenDeLaCreme’s Beware The Terror of Gaylord Manor, and Kitten N’ Lou’s CAMPTACULAR and Jingle All The Gay. She created and co-produced QUEEN STREET at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute with CD Forum in 2019.
Imana Gunawan: a Texas-born Indonesian, is a Seattle-based storyteller, multimedia journalist, dance artist and creative director. Through her journalism and art work, Imana believes in realizing a more just world for those historically pushed aside. As manager and senior analyst, she leads breaking news coverage of Indo-Asia-Pacific for Dataminr. Imana’s creates scenic, surreal dance-based worlds that center the stories of marginalized peoples, their ancestry, and their futures.
Mario Martinez: a Detroit, Michigan native and came to Seattle for their BFA and has since worked with Freehold Theater, Cornish, Theater Schmeater, The Umbrella Project, the 14/48 Projects and have since then started their drag career as Lola Meraz performing at Studio Current, Kremwerk Complex, Annex Theater, Re-Bar amongst other queer spaces.
Meg Fox: Apart from a brief hiatus while in divinity school, Meg has been designing lights in Seattle since 1986. Before 1986, that she had a career in civil disobedience and general trouble making in Arizona. Meg has worked with Markeith for 12 Years and adores him artistically and as a human. She has also designed lights for Alvin Ailey, Urban Bushwomen, Sonia Dawkins, and Au Collective, among others. Meg has been on the faculty/staff of the Dance Dept. at Cornish for over 20 years.
Hatlo: a queer process babe, generative co-conspirator and theater wildcat who creates and facilitates new performance. Their collaborative work includes directing, dramaturgical support, writing, performing and curation. Frequent and ongoing collaborators include: Shontina Vernon, MJ Kaufman, Markeith Wiley, Fox Whitney/Gender Tender, MKNZ, Mel Carter, and Timothy White Eagle.
Kate O’Day: a movement artist currently working on a project about flowers. She is so excited to be a part of the W(UT) team. @yoursistertess
Arson Nicki: Arson Nicki is a post-drag artist based in Seattle, WA. Their performance work has been showcased at the Seattle Art Museum, On the Boards, Annex Theatre, the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Arson’s work references pop culture and contemporary fashion to question gender norms, present drag in unexpected settings, and advocate for their communities’ platforms.
Questions that I have been asking are:
Who truly owns the abstract?
How has the USA’s political climate shifted the way we view and create live performance?
What is it like to be a queer black artist who is less interested in explaining my personal experience and more interested in holding a mirror up to society?
In short, if we do not meet this goal all aspects of these projects will shift. Casting, outreach, compensation, equipment & so much more.