About the Event
Created by the visionary arts collective TRIBE led by artistic director and choreographer Shamel Pitts, “Touch of RED” has its South Florida premiere this fall. Reimagining the boxing ring from a space of duels to one of duets, “Touch of RED” challenges how we think about male vulnerability, utilizing projection, animation, and lighting to create an immersive world for its central duo as they turn a space of aggression into one of softness.
“Touch of RED” is part of Shamel Pitts’ RED Series which continues his research to propose and share the colorfulness within Blackness, creating a body of work that supports, shelters, and cultivates an Afro-futuristic performance art landscape in which the multitude of Black diversity and capacity is realized, allowed, nurtured, and shared.
“Touch of RED…was inspired by Pitts’ fascination with the quickness of footwork in boxing and camaraderie within combat.” — Wada Udobong, The Observer
“Touch of RED” is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow, YoungArts, Miami Light Project INC, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, New York Live Arts INC, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Office of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). Touch of RED is also made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation; developmental support and the world premiere presentation is made possible by co-presenters Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and Jacob’s Pillow. We’d like to also thank the Consulate General of Israel in New York, Trust for Mutual Understanding, GIBNEY, and The Harkness Foundation for Dance. Bubble residency guidance provided by Duke Dang and medical consultant Dr. Wendy Ziecheck. For more information: www.npnweb.org.
Additional TRIBE commissioning, development and core operating support is provided by the Mellon Foundation; Arison Arts Foundation; the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; The Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Ford Foundation; 92Y Harkness Dance Center; National Performance Network (NPN) Creation, Development & Artist Engagement Fund Project. The Creation, Development & Artist Engagement Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.