Nashville, Tenn. – January 4, 2024 – Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville today announced that world-renowned dancer and choreographer Shamel Pitts will kick off the organization’s 2024 performing arts program February 2 and 3 with the multimedia production Black Hole: Trilogy and Triathlon, which mixes stunning movement and striking visuals to transport audiences into an imagined, Afrofuturist dimension.
Black Hole is a kaleidoscopic performance art experience that submerses audiences in a soundscape of original music, sound samples and spoken word. A trio of Black performers from TRIBE, a multidisciplinary arts collective created and led by Shamel Pitts, shares the stage in a narrative of unity, vigor and unrelenting advancement. Their journey originates in the darkness of the titular Black Hole, from which they embark on an hour-long, uninterrupted movement performance, in which their tenacity and grace are emphasized by cinematic video projections – the only source of light for the entire performance.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shamel Pitts and members of TRIBE to Nashville for the first time,” said Mark Murphy, OZ Arts Executive and Artistic Director. “Shamel has been best known as a lead dancer with the famed Batsheva Dance Company, but in recent years his own choreography has made him one of the most influential emerging artists in the global dance field. In his breakthrough work Black Hole: Trilogy and Triathlon his exquisite movement is framed by hypnotizing audiovisual elements to take us all on a memorable, Afrofuturistic journey.”
Described as a marathon in three parts, ‘Triathlon’ concludes the ‘trilogy’ of Pitts’s “BLACK series” consisting of previous works Black Velvet: Architectures And Archetypes and Black Box: Little Black Book of RED. Although the title alludes to the cosmic phenomenon of black holes, his interpretation seeks not to explain science, but instead to explore a metaphorical place of transformation and potential.
The performance features dance elements built from the Gaga movement language developed by the prolific Batsheva Dance Company in Israel, where Pitts danced for seven years under choreographer Ohad Naharin. TRIBE, based in Brooklyn, specializes in Afrofuturistic arts and was created with the dream to soon become a synonym of artistic experience that connects gifted individuals in our present era to re-imagine and cultivate an alternative new future. The group’s work won a Bessie Award in 2023 for Black Hole: Trilogy & Triathlon for creating an immersive and transformational experience with sound, projections and movement.
OZ Arts will present Black Hole: Trilogy and Triathlon on Friday and Saturday, February 2 and 3 in its expansive warehouse. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now at https://www.ozartsnashville.org/shamel-pitts-tribe. Those interested in seeing a preview of the performance can view the trailer on here.
This performance is made possible with generous support from donors and grants. To learn more about upcoming performances, please visit www.ozartsnashville.org.
