jill sigman/thinkdance – 25th Anniversary Season and Premiere of Re-Seeding (Encounter #3: The Commons)

jill sigman/thinkdance celebrates its milestone 25th anniversary with a new and expanded iteration of the Re-Seeding project. Re-Seeding (Encounter #3: The Commons) is a rigorous ritual-based process grounded in an exploration of our interconnectedness to land and each other. Building on Sigman’s dances and installations about environmental and social justice issues, Re-Seeding (Encounter #3: The Commons) asks what it could mean for humans to “re-seed” themselves on land where their histories are entangled with colonization and occupation in a way that moves toward healing. Is it possible to understand the past and aspire toward collective wellbeing? What can those living in diaspora learn from plants that root themselves in new places and contribute to ecosystems in positive ways?

The Re-Seeding process has included unearthing histories of colonized sites, performers researching their own family lineages, foraging wild plants, work with clay, and movement exploring embodied histories of displacement. This iteration of Re-Seeding is performed in a space that overlooks the historic site of the public commons of colonial New York. The disappearance of the commons and the privatization of land heralded a critical shift from land as owned by no one and shared by all to land as “resource” and private property.

The piece is composed of detailed improvisational scores that, taken together, form a ritual calling for deep listening, relationality, and transformation. The live movement and sound scores are created and performed by dancers Dani “dan” Cole, Donna Costello, zavé martohardjono, Jill Sigman, J’nae Simmons, and Stacy Lynn Smith, and musicians Kristin Norderval (composer, voice, laptop), Gustavo Aguilar (percussion), and Miguel Frasconi (glass). The performance includes live painting with plant pigments by visual artist Paula Walters Parker. Dramaturgical support by Marguerite Hemmings. Ceramics by Jill Sigman. Contributions to the process by Amala’ika Rinyire.

There are four performances of Re-Seeding (Encounter #3: The Commons). Seating is limited. Evening performances take place Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22 at 7pm. Afternoon performances take place Saturday, June 22and Sunday, June 23 at 3pm. Evening performances are preceded by Pre-Show Tea with Special Guests at 6pmin the Gibney Gallery where you can taste wild edible tea in a casual setting and meet a fascinating array of scholars, activists, and artists working with environmental justice, waste, plants, and repair. All performances are followed by an optional discussion with the artists. Sunday’s afternoon performance is followed by a 25th Anniversary Celebration with light bites, company memorabilia, and special guests.