Embarqued: Stories of Soil Preview

Company SBB // Stefanie Batten Bland will be in residence at ArtYard in Frenchtown this March in the leadup to the world premiere of Embarqued: Stories of Soil as part of a new partnership between ArtYard and the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

In two performances at 1 PM and 7:30 PM on Wednesday, March 30,  preview of Embarqued, an installation-based dance-theatre work that interrogates existing relationships to memorials. An artist talk with Stefanie Batten Bland follows the evening performance. Registration is free; doors open 30-minutes before the start time.

Embarqued continues Batten Bland’s recent investigations into our cultural, political, and spiritual relationships with memorials. The multilayered work centers around a performative ship mast that invites reflection and reveals post-colonial foundations and mythology. Interrogating existing relationships to memorials, Embarqued calls up African ancestral stories integral to uniting our country, enabling us to viscerally and holistically connect our country both forward and backward in space and time and through soil itself.

Conceived and choreographed by Stefanie Batten Bland, Embarqued features an original score by Paul Damien Hogan, who created the score for Batten Bland’s acclaimed work Look Who’s Coming to Dinner, set and video design by longtime collaborator Emmanuel Bastien, costumes by Shane Ballard, and lighting design by Yuki Nakase Link. Embarqued is performed by Raphaël Kaney Duverger, Jennifer Payán, Rachel Watson-Jih, Latra A. Wilson, and David Lee Parker — all of whom have collaborated closely with Batten Bland on this project.

Embarqued has been created in part with the support of two creative residencies at The Yard in Chilmark, MA, the second of which was a partnership between The Yard, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, and the Martha Vineyard African American Heritage Trail.

Photo at top by Emmanuel Bastien