New Wideman/Davis Dance Work seeks to encourage dialogue about the legacy of Confederate Symbolism
November 18, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – Wideman/Davis Dance, the UofSC Dance Program’s resident professional dance company, will present their original evening-length work, Ruptured Silence: Racist Symbolism and Signs, December 1-4 at Drayton Hall Theatre.
Performance times are 8pm each evening. Tickets for the concert are $12 for students, $16 for UofSC Faculty/Staff, Military and Seniors, and $18 for the general public. Tickets are available at the door or by calling 803-777-2551. Drayton Hall Theatre is located at 1214 College St, across from the historic UofSC Horseshoe. Post-show discussions will be held each evening.
Conceived and directed by Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis, Co-Artistic Directors of Wideman/Davis Dance and Assistant Professors in the University of South Carolina Dance Program, Ruptured Silence is a new media and dance performance that examines contemporary perspectives about the confederate flag, a bygone symbol, and its usage as an intimidation tool. In lieu of the recent mass murders at South Carolina’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Ruptured Silence provides an opportunity for discourse on racial equality and oppression within our current cultural landscape. As professors and dance makers, Wideman-Davis and Davis seek to illuminate and challenge the order of discriminatory practices through movement.
In 2013, Wideman/Davis Dance was awarded a Map Fund Grant (provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) to support the research and development of the work. Wideman/Davis Dance, through its fiscal partner Columbia Music Festival Association, was one of just ten dance companies in the nation to receive the grant.
Thaddeus and Tanya say the initial inspiration for Ruptured Silence came from what was supposed to be a relaxing trip to the beach in 2011.
“We went to vacation in Myrtle Beach in May, and unbeknownst to us, we picked the same week as what is known as ‘White Biker’s Week,’” says Thaddeus. “We got there and saw confederate flags everywhere. Instead of relaxing, we were tense — even more so that when we left Columbia.” Myrtle Beach officially hosts both a “Bike Week” and a “Black Bike Week” each May.
The trip inspired the pair to begin a dialogue about their feelings with friends and colleagues, leading to the funding opportunity and, after two years of research, a work-in-progress performance at Columbia’s 701 Center for Contemporary Art in March 2015.
Then came the mass shooting in Charleston in June, and the subsequent removal of the confederate flag from the SC State House the following month.
“Our original concept for the piece was more provoking, meant to elicit some controversial thoughts,” says Tanya. “But when the events of this summer happened, it just really centered it for us to be not so much provoking as to create a sense of discussion, and encourage that discussion to keep going. And since the flag has come down, there has been a silencing. Nobody talks about it. There has been a silencing of people having honest conversations about it.”
The dance theatre work utilizes movement, still and video imagery and spoken performance to expose truths that are commonly ignored in discussions of southern heritage.
“The confederate flag doesn’t just symbolize the loss of white blood,” Tanya explains. “It was the loss of African-American life, as well. There’s a history that kind of fantasizes the confederate identity that actually leaves out a large chunk of its history.”
An example offered by Thaddeus comes from the book A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War(published by the University of SC Press), a diary of a plantation owner’s thoughts during the months leading up to the Civil War.
“The diaries talk about how she is dealing with secession, and reveals her staunch position that she won’t free her slaves unless that freedom means putting them on a boat back to Africa,” he says. “This is also our heritage, this idea that to let African-Americans live freely in the US is some horror.”
Adds Tanya, “You cannot separate the confederate or heritage identity from it also being about slavery.”
The duo have been working with polymedia artist Eto Otitigbe, a long-time collaborator, to create provocative images to supplement the movement, and are working with Columbia-based artist Michaela Pilar Brown on the show’s scenic design. Actor Darion McCloud will perform spoken word interludes that act as a through-line to each section of the work. In addition to Thaddeus and Tanya, Ruptured Silencefeatures the dance artistry of Wideman/Davis Dance Company members Vincent Michael Lopez, Jade Solomon Curtis, Kevin Guy, and UofSC alumna Mindy Rawlinson.
Ruptured Silence will be preceded each evening at 6pm by the dance program’s student choreography showcase, Meteor, which will feature eleven original short dance works created and directed by university dancers. Meteor is a separately ticketed event. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 803-777-2551 or by purchasing at the door.
For more information about Ruptured Silence: Racist Symbolism and Signs or the dance program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at[email protected].
About Wideman/Davis Dance
Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis began Wideman/Davis Dance in 2003. The company is a bi-located company with roots in Chicago, IL and Columbia, SC. Independently, Tanya and Thaddeus have had prestigious and extensive careers performing with world-renowned dance companies and have contributed to the dance field as educators and activists. Together, Wideman/Davis Dance is an undeniably dynamic and progressive collaborative force. Wideman/Davis Dance has a deep commitment to revealing social and political issues through an African-American perspective. Wideman/Davis Dance makes work that is inspired by, and engaged with, current issues, including race, social class, gender, and location. For more information, visit www.widemandavisdance.org.
