AAMP: Diasporic Body: Jesus & Egun (Performance 1)

On Sunday, August 18th, in conjunction with Fahamu Pecou’s DO OR DIE: AFFECT, RITUAL, RESISTANCE, AAMP presents an afternoon performance of the New York Dance and Performance | Bessie Award nominated work Plight Release and the Diasporic Body: Jesus & Egun by Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround. Together, these works speak to the diverse ways in which Yoruba rooted artistic, cultural, and spiritual practices are being expressed in the U.S. black folk life.
Plight Release & the Diasporic Body is a series of works that bask in blackness as everyday diasporic phenomena and traverses, through the body and movement, what a diasporic orientation offers us as a guide towards individual and collective restoration. The purpose is to sustain practices of togetherness and solidarity by centering lived experiences and movement as fertile and effervescent resources.

Jesus & Egun works from the premise and concept expressed by Dr. Nzinga Metzger that “Jesus is an overworked ancestor (egun),” and we must look to all our ancestors and practices on the continuum to move into states of restoration. The work specifically looks at three states of being that include the Mothers of the church, the transcendent human potential of freestyle in the social dance form House, and matrons of Yoruba spiritual practice.

Guests for Performance One are encouraged to arrive at least 15 minutes early to check-in and explore the exhibition. The performance begins promptly at 2:15 pm, runs 20 minutes, and will be followed by a moderated discussion with Lela Aisha Jones | FlyGround. This event is standing room only with limited seating available.

$8 Advance, $14 General Admission, Free for AAMP Members https://www.aampmuseum.org/calendar.html