“Pearl’s choices usually bring a mix of past and present. Within a phrase of her movement, one may see a big, technical leap reminiscent of her time at the Alvin Ailey school. And in the next second, her dancers may sink to the floor with the release styles more prevalent today.”

— Adrienne Totino, Coal Hill Review

(For International Presenters)

CIRCLES: going in

Contact: Staycee Pearl, Artistic Director, staycee@pearlartsstudios.com

Black Joy. Femme. Cycles of Life and Love.

CIRCLES: going in is a full-length dance work celebrating #BlackGirlMagic. Layering dance, visual arts, and a live original score, the work presents snapshots of popular culture through choreographer Staycee Pearl’s lens as a Black woman.

CIRCLES is a colorful, unapologetic, and daring path to self-reclamation. CIRCLES is amplified by an original soundtrack created by Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl in collaboration with a diverse roster of club artists including Queen Jo, Ixa, DJ Haram, Kilamanzego, Kha’DJ, DOTGOV, Madame Dolores, Yah Lioness, Meejah, & Geña.

ABOUT THE MUSIC ARTISTS

The sound score for CIRCLES: going in was created in collaboration with Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl and revered music artists from the experimental and underground club scene including: Queen Jo (Philadelphia), DJ Haram (Philadelphia), Ixa (Berlin/Philadelphia), Yah Lioness (Pittsburgh), Madam Dolores (Pittsburgh), DOTGOV (Pittsburgh), Kilamanzego (Philadelphia), Kha’DJ (Pittsburgh/NYC), Geña (Puerto Rico/Pittsburgh) and Meejah (Copenhagen/South Korea).

Over the course of many months, the collaborators engaged in an exchange of vocal and musical elements, including freestyle and vocal sessions. Contributions were based on the collaborators’ response to the dancers’ movement on stage. The result was the accumulation of an audio library of beats, rhymes, chants, bass lines, percussion, sample chops and synthesizer textures that are mixed live in the performance space by Soy Sos, presenting a unique, propulsive club-like sound scape for every show.

TOURING 2023 - 2024

National Performance Network Funding Available  Running Time: 60 Minutes (no intermission)

CREATIVE TEAM: Staycee R. Pearl (Lead Artist, Choreographer) & Herman B. Pearl (Sound Designer/Engineer)

TOURING CAST: 5 Dancers & 1 DJ/Sound Engineer

ADMINISTRATIVE/TECH: 1 Artistic Director & 1 Stage Manager

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos offer engagement activities specifically developed for: University Dance Departments, Non-Dancers & Local Communities and Adults. Offerings include: 

  • Lecture/Demonstrations

  • CIRCLES Movement Workshop

  • School time Performances. Study Guide Available

  • Pre- & Post Performance Discussion

 

PRESS QUOTES

 
 

CIRCLES: going in premiered October 28-30, 2021 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The work is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Joyce Theater, and NPN. More information: www.npnweb.org. CIRCLES was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Co-commissioning Partners are Kelly Strayhorn Theater, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, and The Joyce Theater. The development of CIRCLES: going in is made possible in part by the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron). CIRCLES: going in is supported in part by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Fund, Heinz Endowments, and The Opportunity Fund.