Cynthia Oliver
The Latin prefix “vir” means “man”; the suffix “-ago” indicates female. Thus, the term “virago” has, since ancient times, suggested that elusive flicker between genders we know so well and deny so violently. Into this liminal space enters choreographer Cynthia Oliver and performers Duane Cyrus, Jonathan Gonzalez, Ni’Ja Whitson, and Niall Noel Jones, who excavate layers of racial and gender performance through the shared lens of their Afro-Caribbean and African-American ancestries. With radical tenderness and dizzying force, Virago-Man Dem celebrates black masculinities in their infinite variety and nuance, constructing a sweeping tableau of embracing, sashaying, speaking, screaming, soaring individuals.
Music by Jason Finkelman
Visual art by Black Kirby (John Jennings and Stacey Robinson)
Projections and animations by John Boesche
Costume design by Susan Becker
Lighting design by Amanda K. Ringger
Choreographers Cynthia Oliver and performance artist Jaamil Olawale Kosoko discuss the multiplicities of masculinity in African, Caribbean and African-American communities—and the questions that arise for a woman choreographing masculinity.
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