IN THE PROFESSIONAL ARENA

Virago-Man Dem

premiered in New York at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival

Choreography and text by Cynthia Oliver in collaboration with the performers
Performers: Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Ni’Ja Whitson, Niall Noel Jones
Music: Composed and performed by Jason Finkelman with vocals by Brandon T. Washington, additional percussion by John Wieczorek, Guitar by Geoff Gersh, and drums by Gordon Kay. The recording “If I Betray” by Midnite, was used with permission from I-Grade Records, St. Croix VI.
Visual Artists: John Jennings and Stacey Robinson
Projection Artist: John Boesche
Costume Design: Susan Becker
Wardrobe Coordinator: Meckha Cherry
Lighting Design: Amanda Ringger
Company Manager: Cornelio Casaclang
Stage Manager: Valerie Oliveiro

“Virago-Man Dem,” is an evening-length, dance-theatre work by Cynthia Oliver that navigates the complexities of black masculinities. Troubling the term “Virago”’s reference to characteristically male behaviors and female cultural transgressions, Virago-Man Dem is a nuanced study in masculinities, and their multiplicities within cultures of Caribbeanist and African American communities. The work utilizes movement, spoken word and visual design, to explore the expressions particular to Caribbean and African American black masculinities as they are performed and expressed by men, staged on male identified bodies, but designed and interpreted by a woman — Oliver. Built in modular form over the course of two and a half years and in residencies from Trinidad to Vermont, Virago-Man Dem contains traces of all those who have generously been a part of the multi-year process of bringing it to the stage. It is grounded in the lives of the folks performing the work - Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Ni'Ja Whitson, and Niall Noel Jones, and extrapolates to broader cultural trajectories. Oliver’s design team includes longtime collaborator and composer Jason Finkelman, Black Kirby visual artists John Jennings and Stacey Robinson, projection/animator John Boesche, costume designer Susan Becker, and lighting designer Amanda Ringger. The work premiered in New York at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival in October of 2017. It closed in the fall of 2018 with a final sold out performance at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois.