Interview on the occasion of the premiere of A Plot – A Scandal by Ligia Lewis at HAU Berlin – Tagree
What is the European colonial involvement into the history of the Carribean?
Because there was an anti-black government at the time, Dominican palo, was practiced at night. Dictatorship had a very long reign over the Haitian Republic accompanied with hostility and what’s very sad, this condition is very common in the Dominican Republic. Not so interestingly, Dominicans try to make this distinction between themselves and Haitians, despite the fact that we have a shared history. One of the many tragedies that continue on this shared island is the colonial divide between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, through systemic forms of anti-blackness and colorism. Within this piece, I’m trying to bring the Dominican Republic and Haiti in relation and proximity, out of my own need to plot a deeper connection to those that helped liberate all of us Hispaniola, the Haitian revolutionaries, while also including the greater Caribbean, as our stories are entangled. In (Western) Europe’s attempt at mapping the world in its own image, a global racial-capitalist world ensues. My piece, “A Plot / A Scandal” is the critique of this fact- “a plot, a piece of land, and some property”, as I say it in the prelude of the piece.
How do you deal with the history of violence in your work?
With and through very strong images and with a strong physical presence. Also, my works engage a long process of realization, first through the concept and then the development of the materials of the performance. There is another interesting anecdote related to it. This John Locke who is an enlightenment figure, writing about the natural rights of liberty, is simultaneously writing these laws putting them into place as Europe and the United Kingdom specifically is shifting from monarchy into the republic. He was writing his theories about political law and at the same time about freedom. Yet he is invested monetarily in the slave trade. So he is making money out of it. And once I learnt this I knew that was the starting point of it. This is the cruelty of certain abstractions of thought, that I find Europe is very seduced by. He is making money out of this subjugation.
I’ve come to the conclusion that a whole lot of things that have been built or came into being in the West, have been done by slave labour. Why is this fact still so ignored in Europe?
Well I’m not sure how to quantify this. I’m more engaged with the psychic space that emerges knowing the (modern) world is made in someone else’s (Europeanised) image. Meanwhile Africa and its peoples dispersed across the globe (also including land, resources, and by extension culture), the black diaspora, have experienced and continue to experience disproportionate forms of exploitation, dispossession and violence. I’m always interrogating this fact. And while the concept of property is central to my piece, so is the continued forms of erasure of Africanist traditions on the eastern part of Hispaniola. Despite that, Dominican Palo continues.
Would this certain degree of spectacularisation of Palo dance (like performing in different contexts other than original ritual related ones) deprive it of its authentic aura?
I wanted to tell the story of my great grandmother, and her commitment to Dominican Palo, also a form of voodoo, not to spectacularize it, but to bring people closer to what I deem as a minor, however incredibly relevant, rebellion. And I align myself with this rebellion and my ancestor’s many rebellions, archived or not. It’s with this spirit that I engage with my work. You see, black and brown (indigenous) folks have endured far too much for far too long. And as the brilliant artist, Nora Chipaumire once stated, “throw salt on your wound and speak!” So comes my piece, with the words : Revenge, Rest, Repair. Repair appearing with a delayed question mark, in neon light.
I think you have a wonderful metaphor for this radical subversion towards the end of the piece – this gesture of uprooting of the stage floor. Because this polished floor surface gets turned up and destroyed revealing the dirt underneath laying it bare and making it evident – a very strong move. You have to tell me more about your movements and gestures because they are very deeply thought through and prepared. Every move in its place with maximum effect on the viewer down to the movements of the eyelids quoting one of your texts.
Speaking of this piece, I knew this very condition of plotting, inspired by a piece of land, a plot, was the starting point. So how am I going to plot throughout this piece? Ok, so I built this floor. Plotting for me in the context of the work was sewing different narratives together, and I developed this through movement and language with a process I call physical narration. All my work is very gestural and theatrical in nature. Formally, I try to find the appropriate language or expression made distinct for each piece. But I often use a recurring modes of physical intensity and humour, where I can, as a way of dealing with the overwhelming burden of history and of representation.
Maybe you could also say a few words about who influenced you as a dancer and choreographer?
About influences, it’s such a good question. Conceptually, I would say the Congolese artist, Faustin Linyekula. Our work is totally different, but nevertheless I deeply appreciate his experiments. I mentioned Nora Chipaumire earlier. Ralph Lemon is another choreographer whose research based practice is very inspiring. Film is also inspiring and also more generally being in the world. I’m always trying to tune my intuition by simply trying to participate in the world.
Particularly silent film is a trove of gestures. As for the post-modern dance I agree with you.
Yes, I love silent film. Post modern dance, or at least the canonical form it took, hasn’t inspired me much. Not to mention how that canon is riddled with different forms of erasure, as most canons are. But in general, building a physical language, in a strong visual and auditory landscape, has been something I’ve been busy with since I started making work.
How do you choose the music scores to your works? They play emotionally a crucial role. For example in that piece Deader than Dead the music score by Guillaume de Machaut from the 14th century adds timeless dimension to human suffering.
The Guillaume Machaut piece was also central to my work, “Still Not Still” as it was the foundation for the stage work as well. I’m an avid music lover. I am trying to discover music and sound all the time. I often use already composed material that I reimagine or put through some sort of altering process to arrive at a new form. For “A Plot / A Scandal”, my twin brother (a.k.a Twin Shadow) composed an original score, with his oft collaborator Wynn Bennett. This was a pleasure project because they are wonderful to work with as was my sister, Sarah, and my light designer, Joseph Wegmann and my alternating performance partners Corey Scott Gilbert and Justin Kennedy.
Regarding sound, I asked my brother to be as illustrative as possible in order to have a painterly feel, particularly in plot 1, with a sonic landscape of a British pastoral. The music then slides to richly textured yet sparse saxophone both for the beginning and then at the end with a kind of cathartic cacophony. There’s a hilarious intermezzo for the short break in the piece, where the figure of John Locke cleans up his mess.
