ONE NIGHT ONLY! Thursday, February 20, 7:30 pm McPherson Playhouse
Dance Victoria presents the Canadian Premiere of 2024 MacArthur Fellow Shamel Pitts’ Afrofuturistic arts collective TRIBE (New York). For one night only, the acclaimed work BLACK HOLE – Trilogy and Triathlonpromises to transform the McPherson stage with creaturely movement, futuristic lighting and video projection, and the exquisite music of Nina Simone.
Shamel Pitts founded TRIBE – Multidisciplinary Visual Performances in 2019 with the dream to connect some of today’s most gifted individuals—specifically, artists of colour—to re-imagine and cultivate an alternative new future. The Brooklyn-based company finds inspiration in the Afrofuturist movement, which maintains that Black artists have a responsibility through their work to tell new stories and create a brighter future that is different and shines more luminously than the past.
BLACK HOLE – Trilogy and Triathlon epitomizes the Afrofuturist vision. The project constitutes the final installment of Pitts’ award-winning “BLACK Series” triptych, a series of deeply personal live performance pieces conceived and choreographed since 2015.
The work features a trio of Black performers who share the stage in a narrative of unity, vigor, and unrelenting advancement. Their journey originates in the darkness of the titular BLACK HOLE, understood not as a cosmic void but a metaphorical place of transformation and potential. Engulfed in an evocative soundscape of original music, sound samples, and spoken word, the dancers embark on an hour-long, uninterrupted journey in movement in which their tenacity and grace are emphasized by cinematic video projections and stark, monochromatic lights. The performancewill be followed by an onstage post-show talk moderated by recent City of Victoria Artist-in-Residence Kemi Craig.
While in Victoria, Shamel Pitts will facilitate a free masterclass as part of Dance Victoria’s Community Engagement programs. Dance Victoria’s presentation of Shamel Pitts | TRIBE is made possible with generous support from Season Sponsor Derma Spa, Lead Presentation Sponsor Ritual Nordic Spa, and with public support from the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Government of BC, BC Arts Council, and the CRD Arts Development office. Additional support for Dance Victoria’s presentation of Shamel Pitts | TRIBE and related outreach activities is generously provided by TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment. Special thanks to Venue Sponsor Royal & McPherson Theatres Society and Hotel Sponsor Chateau Victoria for their support of this presentation.
About Shamel Pitts
Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, choreographer, conceptual artist, dancer, spoken word artist, director, and teacher. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Pitts began his dance training at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and, simultaneously, at The Ailey School. He is a first-prize winner in The National Arts Competition from YoungArts. Pitts went on to receive his BFA in dance from The Juilliard School and was awarded the Martha Hill Award for excellence in dance. He began his dance career in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and Ballets Jazz Montréal. Pitts danced with Batsheva Dance Company for seven years under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin and is a certified teacher of Gaga movement language.
Pitts has created a triptych of award-winning multidisciplinary performances, with his arts collective TRIBE, known as the “BLACK Series,” which has toured extensively to many festivals and performance spaces around the world since 2016. In 2019, he founded the Afrofuturist dance collective TRIBE – Multidisciplinary Visual Performances. Pitts is an adjunct professor at The Juilliard School, a guest faculty member at Princeton University, New York University, Wesleyan University and has been an artist-in-residence at Harvard University. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the 2024 Doris Duke Artist Award, 2021 Bessie Award winner, 2018 Princess Grace Award in Choreography. He is also a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow, a Jacob’s Pillow artist-in-residence, a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, and recipient of a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.
Shamel Pitts | TRIBE
BLACK HOLE – Trilogy and Triathlon
McPherson Playhouse
Thursday, February 20, 7:30 pm
How to Buy Tickets
Phone: The Royal or McPherson Box Offices at 250-386-6121 or toll free at 1-888-717-6121 Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (Royal Theatre is closed 1:00 to 1:30 pm)
Online: DanceVictoria.com
Visit the Royal and McPherson Theatres website for current Box Office details.
SINGLE TICKET PRICES (NON-SUBSCRIBER PRICING)
| A | $59.00 |
| B | $49.00 |
| C | $34 |
A limited number of discounted Pay Your Age (ages 12 to 29) tickets are also available.
About Dance Victoria
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from our studios in Quadra Village. Dance Victoria is a non-profit charitable society with the mission to cultivate a connection to dance by presenting and supporting diverse local, national, and international artists, and inspiring all communities through the magic of dance. Our vision is that everyone in Greater Victoria can experience the transformative power of world-class dance. DanceVictoria.com
Media Materials
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Media Contact
Anne-Sophie Cournoyer
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250-595-1829