Let ‘im Move You: INTERVENTION
Part of the duo’s seven-year collaborative research into J-Sette performance, Intervention activates multiple historically Black neighborhoods in Philadelphia, as it uses rhythm and precision as vehicles into subversion and satisfaction. On sidewalks and in alleyways, jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham draw on J-Sette’s call-and-response structure to reveal the powerfully singular expression that can emerge within this highly regimented dance. J-Sette originated among drill teams and majorette lines of historically Black southern universities and continues to grab the attention of half-time stadium crowds—while having found a second life, and new political meanings, in the Black gay club scene. Performance routes are announced only hours before their intervention, freeing the performers to agitate the boundaries of propriety and belonging, and confront the historic imaginations and limitations of these spaces.
photo credit: Johanna Austin, www.AustinArt.org
