Shamel Pitts is an American choreographer, artist and teacher who founded New York-based art collective TRIBE. Next month, TRIBE will be performing Marks of RED at Serendipity‘s annual event, Let’s Dance International Frontiers. Marks of RED is an Afrofuturistic meditation on the “womb space,” divining the effect that memory has on our experiences, senses, bodies, reality, and our imaginative possibilities.
We sat down with Shamel to find out more.
Q: Let’s start with an obvious question: are you excited about coming back to Leicester – for the second time! – to perform at Let’s Dance International Frontiers – and what did you enjoy most about performing at LDIF23 (for the first time).
Shamel: I’m absolutely thrilled to return to Leicester with TRIBE to perform at LDIF again! What I loved about performing at LDIF23 with BLACK HOLE was the proximity & presence of the audiences. I truly felt that the audience deeply entered the portal of the work with us. It’s rare for me to feel such closeness; to feel that I (the performer) am with each of you (the audience) and we are in the epic journey through the cosmos together.
Q: You’re bringing MARKS OF RED to the festival: what inspired you to make the piece and what do you think Curve audiences will particularly love about it?
Shamel: ‘MARKS OF RED’ is my most grand artistic endeavour to date. It is also the first work with TRIBE in which I’m not performing!
When envisioning this new work with these 6 formidable dance artists, four words arose as inspiration:
Butoh – the avant-garde dance expression born in Japan after World War II.
“Butoh” literally translates into English as ‘a dance of utter darkness’.
The raw emotion, expressive range, exploration of the subconscious and beauty within the awe-striking terror of the physical embodiment in Butoh is vividly pronounced in Marks of RED.
Sumo – a form of full contact wrestling (also conceived in Japan) where two heavily weighted entities use their bodies’ mass to collide & conquer the other.
For me, I am curious how these 6 dancers can use their stored energy, stored memories that have marked them to collide into each other and how the moment of contact can lead to an embrace that molds them into one collective unit.
Techno – an electronic dance music expression born from Detroit by black musicians during the Industrial Revolution. With techno, I also become curious of the body’s ancestral technologies & how technological tools (tracing all the way back to the African Drum) can ignite a spiritual & energetic partnership that transcends. All of the dancers & I have a practice of dancing in underground techno clubs at night!
Womb – I often say that when I dance, I try to trace the marks of my memories all the way back to my mother’s womb. It was one of the first prompts I gave to the dancers. The Womb space in my research is a metaphorical space of tethered aliveness, regeneration, rupture, and potential. I believe that the multidisciplinary pronunciation of this work – where lighting, video projection, sound, choreography, capital D Dance and the incredibly impressive set- within an afrofuturistic landscape will resonate with Curve audiences.
Q: How did you and Serendipity’s leader Pawlet Brookes meet?
Shamel: My first encounter with Pawlet was seeing her video testimony of BLACK HOLE.
The way in which she described her experience of the work as an audience member was deeply profound to me. I felt that my work was seen & deeply understood by her. Once meeting her in real life in Leicester in 2023, I quickly felt like I was meeting an old friend. Her energy radiates a breath of humanity & she is quite a visionary who inspires me immensely.
Q: Tell us about the dancers in Marks of RED?
Shamel: I met each of the dancers from various places: arts administration, dance workshops, other dance companies & choreographers, mutual friends, the club. I’ve worked with Marcella Lewis & Ashley Pierre-Louis before with BLACK HOLE & other works I’ve created with TRIBE. This is my first time collaborating with Dominica, Imani, Keron & Kris Lee. It’s also the first time for the 6 of them to be dancing together. I am enamoured & inspired by each one. They each have a distinct artistic voice & prowess as performers. And what’s also been heartwarming to witness is how these women, these black women, truly embrace each other.
Q: You formed your company in 2019. What are your 3 proudest achievements and what are your aims for the next few years?
Shamel: Since 2019, I am most proud of our resilience through 2020, where we prioritized mutual care and developed new performance works despite global cancellations. I’ve also cultivated a distinct constellation of artists and collaborators whose multidisciplinary brilliance creates a dynamic, passionate internal culture. Finally, seeing our audience grow and resonate with the work we do, from Brooklyn to global stages, deeply validates our mission. Moving forward, my aims are to expand our immersive world-building art projects and secure sustainable infrastructure for our artists. We will continue to deepen collaborations, expand and develop our TRIBE.
Q: Tell us five things you particularly love about living in New York City – and five things you loved about being in Leicester in 2023 – and maybe a couple of things you’re looking forward to doing in the UK while you’re here.
Shamel: NYC: Brooklyn’s vibrancy & culture, nightlife, the chaos & care within a current that is relentless, the arts scene (these always something!), and Summertime.
Leicester & UK: Meeting other festival artists & experiencing their voices was a highlight for me last time.
Taking class & teaching class; Hearing the LDIF artists from Africa & the diaspora share their stories while rendering visibility towards their histories & research was incredibly inspiring. It shared proof that we are polylithic within a complex shared humanity: the multiplicity within Blackness.
For more information and to book, visit: https://www.serendipity-uk.com/whats-on/lets-dance-international-frontiers/