This community engagement opportunity was created as part of MBDance’s soon-to-premiere artwork Desire: A Sankofa Dream. Within the Desire: A Sankofa Dreamartwork, Black queer performers practice radical consent and sovereignty in an intentional, public, digital performance-ritual environment. They unabashedly display their desire and care, transgressive to do in public.
This Imaging Consent, Dancing Desire companion workshop offers community members the chance to try on some of the themes and experiences from the artwork. This online, participatory seminar is designed for Queer and/or Transgender People of Color (QTPOC), who don’t need to have any prior performance experience. Maria Bauman-Morales developed the Imagining Consent, Dancing Desire workshop from exercises and prompts she created for her cast, and folks first took part in the workshop during her Dance in Process residency at Gibney in New York, NY. During our time together, QTPOC of all or no genders will: practice a scored improvisation of kissing and screaming online as two visceral actions often denied QTPOC; gain practice in verifying consent, invitation, excitement, and boundaries; complete writing exercises about sensuality and performativity. This experience is also meant to help QTPOC find and meet one another in their own community and connect with NYC QTPOC community via MBDance.