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jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham create works that stem from the study and performance of J-Sette, the call-and-response dance form originated by majorette lines at various historically Black colleges. Leagues of Black queer men, prohibited from trying out as majorettes, adopted the form and created competitive teams to practice in gay clubs and pride parades. Searching for satisfaction and subversion within J-Sette’s team-oriented call-and-response structure, the Let ‘im Move You series houses jumatatu and Donte’s projects together. The series’ most recent creation, This Is a Formation, was co-commissioned by the CAC.
Within the exhibition “Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott”, jumatatu, Donte, and William Robinson will mount a choreographic discourse with Colescott and his work, mining the intersections of narratives concerning allegiance/allowance in relationship to Black communities, and Colescott’s own Blackness. Featuring excerpts of the works This Is a Success and A Study, this “conversation” will explore Colescott’s commitment to presenting multifaceted representations, extrapolations, and transgressive fantasies of Black people amidst a reality that feels much more absolute.