Not About Race Dance, a collaborative, choreographic response to the unacknowledged racial politics in U.S. postmodern dance, is presented with GERALDCASELDANCE as part of the Surge: Explorations in Afrofuturism series. The all-BIPOC ensemble of five dancers includes Styles Alexander, Gerald Casel, Audrey Johnson, Karla Quintero, and Cauveri Suresh, with an original score performed live by sound designer Tim Russell, and additional collaborators Aron Altmark (lighting and media design) and Rebecca Chaleff (dramaturgy).

Despite postmodernism’s popularity, its racial dynamics have gone largely unacknowledged. In Not About Race Dance, dance artist and equity activator Gerald Casel and his collaborators occupy a space that has been historically defined by white artists to present a contrasting vision of where Black and Brown bodies belong. When the work premiered this past December, the Fjord Review said the dancers were “intensely present and riveting . . . reclaiming the literal and sociological ‘white space’ of postmodern dancing in episodes that are vulnerable, cathartic, clever, and delivered with compelling rigor.” 

*    *    *    *    *
ADMISSION
Free and open to the public.
Attend in person.
General admission seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please familiarize yourself in advance with the full COVID-19 protocols required for entry.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Be prepared to show the following COVID-19 documents.
UCSC students: green clearance badge
UCSC employees: symptom check clearance email
Visitors:
1. complete the UCSC Symptom Check on the day of the event and show the clearance email to the ushers at the door
2. Show proof of vaccine -OR- negative PCR test completed within 72 hours (home tests/antigen tests are not accepted)

Effective April 10, 2022, masks will not be required for indoor events at UC Santa Cruz facilities, but their use will still be strongly recommended.

PARKING
Parking $5.
Purchase a permit in advance or use ParkMobile.
The closest parking is Lot #126.
See Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS) for visitor parking information, ParkMobile instructions, and a campus parking map.

*    *    *    *    *
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Since 1998, GERALDCASELDANCE has been creating and presenting experimental dance that combines social practice with creative and collaborative explorations. Each dance provokes reflection and implants its imagery into the viewer’s psyche by combining movement and spatial composition with metaphor. Dropping hints of narrative while inviting space for contemplation, the dances deliver multiple levels of interpretation and meaning. GERALDCASELDANCE has been presented at KuanDu Arts Festival Taiwan, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Movement Research at Judson Church, Dance New Amsterdam, Dance Theater Workshop (Fresh Tracks and SplitStream), Joyce SoHo, Dixon Place, Dancenow NYC, Aaron Davis Hall, 92nd Street Y, The Yard, Jacob’s Pillow (Inside/Out), Danceworks Milwaukee, ODC Theater and throughout Scotland following a company residency at Dancebase Edinburgh. Casel has been an artist in residence at ODC Theater, Movement Research, and has been awarded fellowships through the Hellman Foundation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Freedom Fellow), National Center for Choreography Akron, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, and The Bogliasco Foundation. For more information about GERALDCASELDANCE visit geraldcasel.com.

ABOUT THE SERIES
This event is part of Surge: Explorations in Afrofuturism, a multidimensional and transcultural month-long festival on Afrofuturism spearheaded by composer/performer Karlton Hester, choreographer Gerald Casel, and artist Aaron Samuel Mulenga. Afrofuturism is a global artistic and social movement, intent on imagining a world where African-descended peoples and cultures can live and flourish. For Surge, an extended program of music and dance performances, film screenings, and discussions will bring together artists and thinkers to creatively engage Afrofuturist strategies for liberation and the restructuring of society free of racism.