About This Show

I Step On Air
Oxana Chi & Layla Zami

Oxana Chi brings May Ayim’s memory back to the stage, recalling her love of words and her lifelong struggle. The energetic and graceful choreography draws from Oxana’s self-created ‘fusion’ dance, blending Romani Flamenco, West African and South American dances with contemporary movements and theatrical expressions. She is accompanied on stage by Layla Zami who performs poetry by May Ayim (translated into English) as well as her own compositions alternating between jazzy saxophone airs, experimental sounds, and soothing melodies on Senegalese and Mexican kalimbas. Embedding their own cultural heritage with May Ayim’s legacy, the artists use a broad emotional range to express a strong political message. An entertaining and meditative show, which creates an intimate and liberating universe.

“outstanding avant-garde… a must-see for all culture-loving New Yorkers” — African-American poet Sadiq Bey (Berlin/Detroit)

On Paper
Rosamond S. King

On Paper questions and critiques the criteria used to determine who is a success. Professional, creative, and personal achievements and aspirations are read out loud and positioned on a wall or on the ground, based on the importance given to them by the Day Job. Mirroring the judgment of success and failure, the performer’s body will rise and fall. The performance transforms a pristine white space into a complicated, crumpled, soiled area – much like the career of an artist with two careers.

On paper is supported in part by the Franklin Furnace Fund, supported by the Jerome Foundation.