American Realness

Trajal Harrell

Antigone Jr.

SAT JAN 7 . 11:00 PM
SUN JAN 8 . 1:00 PM

Run time: 30 minutes

ABRONS ARTS CENTER UNDERGROUND THEATER
466 Grand Street

In American and English naming tradition, a junior (jr.) is the son of a father with the same name. Thus, with Antigone Jr., the New York choreographer Trajal Harrell takes on a study of the role of Antigone from Sophocles’s tragedy alongside performer Thibault Lac as Ismene, Antigone’s sister. This work is part of an ongoing series entitled Twenty Looks or Paris Is Burning at The Judson Church, that comes in five regular sizes – Extra Small (XS), Small (S), Medium known as (M)imosa, and the upcoming Large (L) and Extra Large (XL) – plus this junior size. They all take on the proposition: “What would have happened in 1963 if someone from the voguing dance tradition in Harlem had come downtown to Judson Church in Greenwich Village to perform alongside the early postmoderns?” Thus, what new relations would have been produced by voguing a Greek tragedy, a concept against the aesthetic trends of 1963 Judson? Rather than illustrating a historical fiction, Harrell uses this proposition to rethink our contemporary context. What we see was possible neither at the voguing balls nor at Judson Church, but a third possibility is created, here and now. This jr. represents a potential uni-size in the series, both unique and unisex.

“I love watching Harrell indicate styles—now with down-and-dirty swiveling hips, now with weaving, undulating arms and soft stroking-the-air hands, now with high-stepping feet. Every pose resonates.” – Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice

Antigone Jr. is a co-production of Menagerie de Verre. Residency support has been provided by Menagerie de Verre, Workspace Brussels, and Pact Zollverein.