PURPLE: A Ritual in Nine Spells is an evening-length ritual choreopoem that embodies the power of deep sisterhood for social change through storytelling and movement. Inspired by beloved ancestor, playwright, poet, and feminist Ntozake Shange (best known for her Obie Award-winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide), and the public housing communities in New York City’s San Juan Hill via the stories of its decades-long residents, PURPLE amplifies women and nonbinary voices and captures the radical joy in a place.

PURPLE is devised and performed by Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, an NYC-based dance-theater collective that works in communities to organize for gender and racial justice through experiential dance performance. Danced by a multi-generational ensemble of twelve, the piece was developed in part through engagements with Lincoln Center Education. The work premieres alongside a pre-show multimedia art installation in the lobby; What Does PURPLE Sound Like? spotlights older adults from our local communities.

Note: There will not be ASL interpretation available for this performance.

This project was supported by a National Performance Network (NPN) Artist Engagement Fund, with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org.

This engagement of Sydnie L. Mosley Dances (SLMDances) is made possible in part through the Special Presenter Initiatives program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

This presentation is supported by The Carla Fund for Choreography and Performance, established by the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation.