CONTRA-TIEMPO presents joyUS justUS at UCSD!
“joyUS justUS” is an evening length participatory Activist Dance Theater experience that takes on joy as the ultimate expression of resistance. Whenever humans have survived immense hardship and injustice, prevailing with their humanity intact, the presence of joy or, the knowingness and celebration of our true beauty and power has always been at the root. “joyUS justUS” reclaims the dominant deficit based narrative of people of color in this country as being underprivileged, voiceless, powerless, and victimized, and flips it on its head by embodying stories of joy collected from communities of color in South Los Angeles. The stories shared in this work are personal truths about the power of hope, faith, and family, the strength of the villages that have raised our children and the wealth that lives in our collective histories of struggle and resistance.
Photo by Jamie Kraus. Courtesy of Jacob’s PIllow.
These truths are embodied through the technically rigorous social dance forms that were born out of these experiences, that are at the root of our company’s Urban Latin Dance technique, and that are the physical embodiment of that most powerful, healing joy. Through the conversations with South LA communities, retelling our stories through movement on the concert stage, inviting audiences locally and nationally to actively participate in what they’re experiencing on the stage, and continuing to engage broader audiences in the telling of their own truths, we are creating spaces of joy and healing, allowing the collective “us” to feel more connected, loved, powerful, and alive.
"joyUS justUS" was a deeply collaborative effort. Conceived and directed by Ana Maria Alvarez the piece includes choreography by Alvarez and each company member who contributed their unique ideas and richly diverse movement styles, music by Las Cafeteras, whose powerful East L.A. sound and socio-political message closely compliment our own, d. Sabela grimes, whose soundprints were the heartbeat of Agua Furiosa, Charlese Antoinette, whose costumes help our dancers radiate joy and power, Emily Orling whose altar quilts create a beautifully sacred visual environment and Tuce Yasak, whose technical direction has literally brought light to so many of our stages.
"joyUS justUS" could not have be created without the generous support of the following: The James Irvine Foundation, Mapfund, Doris Duke Foundation/DanceUSA, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, California Arts Council, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs, and Ordway Center for the Performing Arts who generously commissioned the work.
Complete engagement schedule coming soon!