Beautiful Struggle
In a provocative dance theater work directed by Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project asks audiences to think about the visibility and invisibility of race and privilege and how violence and love live on in the body’s memories. Drawing from the text of white anti racist Tim Wise and the embodied theories of the African diasporic movement circulations, BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE is a highly physical dance theater work that integrates live music, spoken word, performance art.
Beautiful Struggle (2012)
Director/Choreographer/Performer: Esther Baker-Tarpaga
Created in Collaboration with the performers: Abigail Zbikowski, Dante Brown, Olivier Tarpaga, D. Sabela Grimes, Lindsay Fisher
Live music: Olivier Tarpaga
Music Composition: Michael Wall, Olivier Tarpaga, D. Sabela Grimes
Recorded Text: Tim Wise
Dramaturg: Michael Morris
This project was made possible with support from:
The New York Live Arts Suitcase Fund, The Johnstone Fund for New Music, Dr. Roy Gottlieb, The King Arts Complex, National Performance Network, the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2011.
Performances and Residencies:
The Kelly Strayhorn Theatre, PA
The Ohio State University Department of Dance, OH
The King Arts Complex, Columbus, OH
Jacob’s PIllow Inside Out Festival, MA
The Ohio State University at Lima, OH
Kenyon College Dance Department, OH
Purdue University Dance Department, OH
I Trotra Festival, Madagascar
Photo by Nick Fancher