"After gathering in the lobby, which is the site of an art installation for the show, the audience is let in to find their seats while Davis sits center stage above a tank of water, singing softly. Her imminent immersion is a multiple metaphor that partly applies to the audience, who are about to be dunked into Davis' head as she works out the central question at hand: Can you be Black and not perform?"
"It is, she says, a performance piece about performing. Davis explained later that the show is an examination of the obligation that Black women have, in particular, when it comes to performing that identity. The piece uses a transition-less mixtape style to go through various scenarios that examine the ever-present question at handliterally, as the question is posed onstage in neon letters throughout the evening."
Eisa Davis created and performs The Essentialisn't at the HERE Arts Center in Soho. The piece blends scripted scenes, original songs, and performance-art moments on a minimal set that alternates between blank walls and projected video imagery, accompanied by Princess Jacob and Jamella Cross. Audience members gather in the lobby around an art installation before entering to find Davis seated above a tank of water, singing softly. Her imminent immersion operates as a layered metaphor for the audience's plunge into Davis's consciousness as she probes the question: Can you be Black and not perform? The work examines the obligation placed on Black women to perform identity through a transition-less mixtape structure and neon signage.
Read at www.amny.com
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