MICHAEL J LOVE
INTERDISCIPLINARY TAP DANCE ARTIST
The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE Collection Part III:
The
AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE
COLLECTION
Part III:
(RHY)PISTEMOLOGY!
(OR, TO KNOW THROUGH THE RHYTHM)
MICHAEL J. LOVE STUDIO
The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE Collection is Michael J. Love's triptych of live interdisciplinary rhythm tap dance pieces that revel in Blackness by way of a vibrant mixing, sampling, looping, remixing, and high-affect juxtaposition
of sounds, media, and performance.
The series includes Part I: GON' HEAD AND PUT YOUR RECORDS ON! as well as
Part II: DOPE FIT! and Part III: (RHY)PISTEMOLOGY! (OR, TO KNOW THROUGH THE RHYTHM)
Photo © 2023 by Shakiru Bola Okoya / Lewis Center for the Arts
LINER NOTES//
Part III: (RHY)PISTEMOLOGY! (OR, TO KNOW THROUGH THE RHYTHM), the third installment in Michael J. Love’s The AURALVISUAL MIXTAPE Collection, sees the tap dance artist and an ensemble of collaborators map the foundational Black histories of techno and house music onto improvisation and choreography that envisions an ‘elsewhere’ of liberatory possibilities. Love and dancers Benae Beamon, Jeffrey Clark Jr., Kaleena Miller, Adriana J. Ray, and Robyn Watson work through an original electronic music soundscape by rhythmanalyst DeForrest Brown Jr. and traverse a multimedia installation by anti-disciplinary artist Aryel René Jackson. With these components, (RHY)PISTEMOLOGY! stands as an embodied testimony of the wealth of cultural knowledge stored in Black American forms of movement and music and the generative, life-giving potential available to those who engage in the labor necessary to honor and carry such forms forward.
CREDITS//
As presented in February 2023 during a work-in-progress showing and post-performance discussion supported by the Princeton Arts Fellowship program, the Princeton Atelier, and the Princeton Program in Dance at the Lewis Center for the Arts to conclude a week of development and rehearsal and introduce ATL/ AAS/ DAN 497: "Tap Dance Experiments in Video and Sound/Rhythm: SOIL, SAND, BONE", Brown, Jackson, and Love's Spring 2023 Atelier course:
Written, Choreographed, and Directed by Michael J. Love
Multimedia Video and Sculpture Installation by Aryel René Jackson
Soundscape and Music Composed and Performed by DeForrest Brown Jr.
Original Cast Members include Benae Beamon, Jeffrey Clark Jr., Kaleena Miller, and Adriana J. Ray
Company Management and Production Coordination by Morgan Johnson
Post-Performance Talkback Moderated by Taji Senior
As presented at Fusebox Festival on April 12-13, 2023:
Written, Choreographed, and Directed by Michael J. Love
Multimedia Video and Sculpture Installation by Aryel René Jackson
Soundscape and Music Composed and Performed by DeForrest Brown Jr.
Cast includes Benae Beamon, Kaleena Miller, Adriana J. Ray, and Robyn Watson
Company Management and Production Coordination by Morgan Johnson
Performed at Ground Floor Theatre
Lighting Design by Amber Whatley
Sound Engineering by Schi Johnson