Alisha Rena Peek and Terri Ayanna Wright perform in Hope Boykin’s Redefine US, from the INside OUT at the 92nd St. Y (photo by Richard Termine / 92nd Street Y)
Who: Hope Boykin, Patrick Coker, Alisha Rena Peek, William Roberson, Deidre Rogan, Martina Viadana, Terri Ayanna Wright, Matthew Rushing
What: New York premiere and other works from HopeBoykinDance
Where: 92Y online
When: October 22-24, $15
Why: “We sometimes evaluate ourselves based on one another — the media, our neighbors, what we see from others, what they have and what we do not. Comparison is the enemy, but it can help to understand what else is out there until we, or, until I, discover my right to my own walk, giving value to trials, circumstance, and the weight of my experience as truth,” fearless dancer and choreographer Hope Boykin begins in her introduction to “. . . an evening of HOPE,” her October 21 live, in-person show at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, available on demand through October 24 at midnight. “And until then, until then, I won’t actually go anywhere, just around in circles, but not forward, not upward, only still. So, what do I do? Keep reaching? Yes! Always reaching, constantly searching, climbing, falling some, starting again. Wanting more, doubting, and hoping — but always hoping. . . . Incorporating yesterday’s thoughts with now moments will teach you what you thought you knew and maybe unclose your mind to my truth, my movement language.” The lights then rise on Deidre Rogan performing Again, Ave, a graceful solo set to Leslie Odom Jr.’s version of “Ave Maria.”
During the pandemic lockdown, Boykin remained busy performing the “This Little Light of Mine” excerpt from Matthew Rushing’s 2014 Odetta for the December 2020 Ailey Forward Virtual Season; presenting the world premiere of the dance film . . . a movement. Journey., part of the 92Y program “Charlie Parker: Now’s the Time – Celebrating Bird at 100”; contributing a short film in honor of Zadie Smith at BAM’s 2020 virtual gala; and winning a twi-ny Pandemic Award for Best Short Zoom Dance for the Works & Process at the Guggenheim commission “. . . it’s okay too. Feel,” a collaboration with BalletX.
Hope Boykin takes an intimate and personal look at herself in 92Y program (photo by Steve Vaccariello)
The evening at the Kaufmann Concert Hall continues with Patrick Coker and William Roberson in an emotional duet set to Ledisi’s torch ballad “No, Don’t (Ne Me Quitte Pas).” Self-described educator, creator, mover, and motivator Boykin, who was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and danced with Alvin Ailey from 2000 to 2020, focuses on herself, discussing her truth and movement language in the filmed segment About Her. Me., originally commissioned for Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre during the lockdown, sharing her thoughts about power, strength, tolerance, equality, choice, and being seen as a threat, dancing in a park over tender music by Gavin Luke.
Boykin next offers the New York City premiere of Redefine US, from the INside OUT, an Annenberg Center commission in which Alisha Rena Peek, Martina Viadana, and Terri Ayanna Wright swirl around in a changing series of long gowns for thirty minutes to a building score by Bill Laurance, yearning and demanding as they approach an exhilarating finale, joined by Boykin. The show concludes with Boykin showering praise on how the stage offers her a platform, particularly coming out of the lockdown, as Coker, Peek, Roberson, Rogan, Viadana, and Wright perform . . . with Your name, set to Kirk Franklin’s rousing gospel song “My World Needs You.”
But Boykin is not done yet, sitting down for a Q&A with Ailey associate artistic director Rushing. As she explains in a program note, “When given the opportunity to have ‘. . . an evening of HOPE,’ I wanted to take a look back at my life as a dance maker and rethink, renew, and revise what today’s Hope may have made. . . . I have waited, sometimes patiently, for my turn, permission to be given. Who have I been waiting on and why? I can’t wait anymore.”