GODLIN
Montréal, QC, CANADA - This project by Artist, Jontae McCrory, stuns with it’s use of palpable tension and deeply studious artistic intent. Hit play and take a dive through the multiple levels of talent on display.
From the Artist, Jontae McCrory: “Cross pollinating between the world of dream and reality, two men accompanied by the “Mirror Holder”, attempt to reimagine and escape their traumas , within the seven different altered realities of Soul City. Two different origins bound to one repeating beginning, shifting through realities to reflect upon their societal indifferences, while acknowledging and denying one another's existence. “
The project “Godlin” is a 7-part abstract experimental dance film work responding to a series of prompts that addressed social isolation, the nature of human relationships, and the motion of the current demonstrations against racial injustice. This dystopian world was inspired and conceptualized by the social political project "Soul City" , conceived by Floyd B. McKissick, the former national director of the Congress on Racial Equality, as an example of black capitalism, the daring experiment was to give equal living and job opportunities to blacks in North Carolina to build a multiracial utopia in the middle of Ku Klux Klan country in 1970s North Carolina.
The objective of this series is to explore the many subset conversations hidden within the layers of oppression, exploring contemporary movement and composition to induce “flashback” storytelling as a visual language and style for the work. While re-imagining racist social structures and ideas through the lens of the unvoiced , using the marriage dance and filming. The pilot of the series was presented in 2020 by Toy Gun Dance Theater “ Dancing in The Park” located in Edmonton, Alberta. The film was also screened publicly in 2020, within Covid19 restrictions, at Telephone Cafe “A Night in Motion” curated by Meiying Thai located in New York, New York. Below is the curators letter :
“Welcome to 'A Night in Motion,' the third part of Cafe Telephone's salon series which spotlights collaborative dance and motion-based work! Cafe Telephone began as a project that examined how we navigate both human connection and communication in an increasingly globalized and digitalized world. Today in 2020, our Cafe's vision feels more important than ever. COVID-19 presented all of us, especially in the creative community, with immense difficulties. This year has brought so much change - both this pandemic and our nation’s reckoning with racism has challenged us, broken our hearts, and even in the midst of global pause, it has set us all in motion. The work in this year’s Cafe Telephone explores the multitudes of what it means for us all to exist in 2020- through joy and pain, through dreams, longing, and explorations of our unique identities and journeys. With these challenges came the opportunity and responsibility to connect with and support our local community as well as to bring our artists together again. We are thrilled to have partnered with a venue that will allow us a safe place to share our voices.”
Meiying Thai
Director, Curator
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