VIEWPOINTS – Celebrating Juneteenth at The Shed with Troy Anthony’s revival service and DonChristian Jones’s sleek performance installation

This weekend, I celebrated Juneteenth by attending a pair of performances at Hudson Yards via The Shed’s ongoing Open Call series. Here are my thoughts.

A performance installation by DonChristian Jones at The Shed, courtesy of Open Call.

First up was DonChristian Jones’s sleek performance installation, which pays homage to the women who raised him (Mr. Jones grew up in 1990s Philadelphia), the cars they drove, their sense of style, and the music that permeated their lives. Eschewing any sort of clear narrative, the piece is instead a highly choreographed tone poem that uses the music video vernacular to conjure the texture of memory. Played out to a seductive electronic score, the mostly-female cast – who portray the matriarchal women in Mr. Jones’s life like impossibly powerful, sensual Black goddesses – unleash a hypnotic spell that’s sustained over the course of the show’s hourlong runtime. With only a handful of words uttered, these women somehow manage to create characters out of seemingly secondary details – in how they strut and what they wear is everything you need to know. The whole affair is a fascinating exercise in suggestive minimalism; I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.

Troy Anthony’s “The Revival: It Is Our Duty” at The Shed, courtesy of Open Call.

The next night, on Juneteenth proper, I attended The Revival: It Is Our Duty written by and headed by Troy Anthony. Many of the pioneering artists participating in Open Call have chosen to treat performance as ritual (e.g., Nia O. Witherspoon, AnAkA). Perhaps the most obvious example was Mr. Anthony’s song-laden revival service last Saturday. Although the piece sought active reckoning from its racially diverse “congregation”, Mr. Anthony’s tone was never chastising. Instead, he implored us to constructively examine and challenge our personal belief systems before seeking healing and liberation. As our pastor and preacher, Mr. Anthony mustered the energy of multiple men, charismatically leading the service in both (original) song and sermon. The production was large – utilizing a band, a choir, and a multi-tasking ensemble – which rightfully gave the experience a sense of occasion.

Both RECOMMENDED

OPEN CALL
Multidisciplinary performance / In-person
The Shed
Running time varies depending on performance
Performances through June 26 (art installations on view through August 1)

Categories: Dance, Music, Other Music, Theater

Leave a Reply