¡azúcar! reflections by Holly Johnston
¡azucar! at The Ford
Aug.18, 2023
written: Aug 21, 2023
¡azucar! invites you in, actually you can’t help it, once the performance begins, ‘She’ has already grabbed your attention. The ancestral ritual of ¡azucar! brings forth the divine feminine. In this, through this, there is a presenc-ing of ‘Her’ the archetype of warrior woman, divine goddess, spirit, and mother earth. The guidance that She provides leads us towards our own healing through dancing, music, vibration, communal connections, and out loud celebration of resilience through resistance.
The show begins with the performers moving through the audience, they are so close, they are so real, they are human beings here and then there is a moment that things begin to shift. A slow steady presence emerges and we are called into another realm.
Kati brings the ancestry of the land forward as she lays the cana down into space and we are being blessed by Spirit.
Jannet transforms time with seamless steps dripping honey from her fingers. There is a strange knowingness in this dripping honey like it knows the taste of Her body. A procession of timeless warriors begins to appear in front of us. The cana stalks carry the power of ancestors whose physical bodies live within the DNA of this plant.
“The caña stalks carry the power of ancestors whose physical bodies live within the DNA of this plant.”
We feel tender connection in the bodied weaving of nearness, intimacy and mutual support in duets with Stanley and Ruby, Alek and Edgar, Jannet and Jose Jose, and Mari and Ariela. Tuce’s work illuminates dimensions of the physical world but also contours symbols and metaphors with light with deep consideration for this relationship to the dramaturgy of ¡azucar!
We witness a rite of passage for bodies. One that must encounter fear that the river will drown you rather than guide you to the ocean. A courage that is confirmed by sweat and throbbing muscles. A unity of labor that is required but achieved by individual endurance. A history of suffering alchemizing into collective power carried away by warriors of love.
Our perceptual world shifts throughout the work, there is a subtlety and exactitude to Meena’s projections. They frame the environment visually in ways that shape space with texture bending our sense perception. But there is a precision with image and context that is guided by an internal compass that knows exactly where it wants to land in our bodies, sensationally provoking critical thinking as much as it provokes sensorial pleasure.
We are moved into a state of joy, but it is a unique state, not the kind of fleeting happiness that happens when something is fun. This is radical joy. The kind of joy that heals. The kind of joy that is timeless and steadfast. The kind of joy that vibrates the dust of our grief. It is the joy that confirms resiliency. It is a proclamation to reclaim stillness. It is the visibility of power in laying down to rest. It is the somatic reparations for bodies hijacked and trafficked by an acculturation to and through white supremacy and toxic capitalism. It is an offering and demonstration of another possibility for us as people and peoples to heal through dancing, sweat, stillness, music, and to synchronize to the heart pulse of Loving as a vital force that holds us together.
“This is radical joy…
the kind of joy that heals…. is timeless and steadfast… confirms resiliency.”
It is clear that the production and actualization of ¡azucar! is a full team and collaborative effort. Maxi, Maritxell, Co-eL, Karina created a container for the wildness of ¡azucar! to be unleashed while also holding Her feet to the ground so that the thunder of Her step could be felt in our bones.
The artistry was stunning.
The dancing was fierce.
The liberation of joy felt with full force.
loving you,