Arena
SCORE: an interdisciplinary exhibition
Creative Producer Derek Fordjour
Choreography Sidra Bell
Lead Producer Danni Pascuma
Music & Composition Hannah Mayree
Costume Design Mark Eric
Lighting Design Brandon Baruch
Images Todd Rosenberg
Premiere Petzel Gallery, New York City, November 11, 2023
In SCORE, Fordjour debuts his latest collaboration, Arena, an original ensemble movement piece, jointly composed with renowned choreographer Sidra Bell, founder of Sidra Bell Dance New York. With live musical accompaniment from Hannah Mayree of The Black Banjo Reclamation Project, five dancers will animate the space, performing the original choreographic score atop a packed dirt floor, within a built environment, which includes a sculptural seating structure and custom tent. Informed directly from the artist’s paintings, original costume and lighting design infuse theatricality into the artist’s oeuvre. Arena grapples with notions of performance and abstraction through live action in a kaleidoscopic exploration of labor, history, power and race.
