THE BLACK BLACK BLACK WEEK
BEYOND THE BLACK BOX

The BLACK BLACK BLACK Week returns to Triskelion Arts September 23 - 25 for its fourth consecutive year!! Bringing together dancers, choreographers, musicians, visual artists, and multidisciplinary creators for a powerful three day celebration of Black artistry, culture, and community.

This year, we are coming back to each other! FAMILY REUNION is an invitation to gather, reconnect, and remember that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Whether you arrive with your people, find your people in the room, or come through on your own, there is a place for you here. For BBB, family is not only about where we come from. It’s about what we choose to carry forward. It’s about honoring the people, practices, and possibilities that have made our communities what they are, while making room for what comes next.

Throughout the week, we’ll create space for movement, music, conversation, reflection, and joy. We’ll celebrate the artists & elders who have poured into this community, make room to rest and be cared for, and remind ourselves that gathering can be an act of healing in itself. This is a reunion in every sense! A return to one another, a return to ourselves, and a celebration of the Black dance community we continue to build together.

Guests are encouraged to arrive early to experience immersive community activations, share soul food plates, and connect through rituals that open up conversation, reflection, and belonging. Each evening begins with community breathwork accompanied by live drumming before moving into performances that honor the richness, resilience, and creativity of the Black experience.

SEPTEMBER 23

Breath work Led by Joy-Marie Thompson
Drumming by

Imani Gaudin
What would the world do without flowers…?

Creation and Performance by Imani Gaudin

What would the world do without flowers…? is an installation based performance remembering the purpose of the body: as a language, a home, a…

Thank you God, thank you mothers, thank you family, thank you earth, and thank you to anyone who has believed in and supported my vision. To anyone who has aided me through chatting, showing up, or simply appreciating my artistry. And most importantly, a HUGE thank you the BBB and TRISK teams for presenting this work. ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU

Curtis Thomas
to every kind of tomorrow

Created, danced, and written by Curtis Thomas
Sound by Chet Baker, Franz Liszt, Cole Porter

Special thanks to Angela, Ashton, and all the people who continually remind me to keep going on this journey.

Catherine Kirk
No Fire Too Quick

Sound: Catherine Kirk, Colleen, J.K Simmons, Jim Morrison & The Doors, Justin Hurwitz,, Niecy Blues, Soulettes, Colin Stetson

‘No Fire Too Quick’ was triggered by the American Psychological Associations study on people’s rapidly declining average attention span on a digital screen. From a focused hold of 150 seconds in 2004, to 47 seconds in 2024, this work tries on the fickle and fleeting virality of pop culture and news in today’s digi-modern society. A medley of existing excerpts from Kirk’s previous works are woven in with raw, unfinished ideas to create a textured algorithm that not only normalizes, but honors brain rot, while a shared diminishing focus is heightened against the innate, human call to grasp onto remembering.

‘No Fire Too Quick’ was first presented as part of OPEN STUDIOS: These are precarious times... curated by Joanna Kotze, at CPR- Center for Performance Research, April 1, 2025.

SEPTEMBER 24

Breath work

Myssi Robinson
Riperion

Channeled and inhabited by Myssi Robinson
Sound: Kirk Franklin’s Melodies from Heaven

Someone has arrived to make way for the oracles. Riparian goes to the waters to ritualize the ways that spiritual dimensionality moves through Black creation. Seeded at many rivers that have left behind their flows as invitation and their blues as protection, this world weaves archival remnants, spirt-led intuition and the miracle of gathering into a prayer. Other realms whisper, spirits find landing places, Blackness claims its center and hopefully we sing.

Thank you to the rivers who remind us always of the gravity of the ocean and to all Black creators who swim through the sacred blue of inheritance, vision and faith into transcendent realities.

Alexa Græ
No.88

Created by Alexa Græ

No.88 is a sound bath and signal. Time for the dragons to go off world.

Thank you to the team at Beyond the Black Box for this magical invitation, curation, and support. Thank you to the production team at Trisk.

Alexander Diaz
the body that ruptures (excerpt)

Sound: Alexander Diaz
Costumes: Alexander Diaz

"the body that ruptures" explores how we return to ourselves through cycles of rupture, release, and repair. The work considers the body as an archive, holding histories, memories, performances, and past selves that accumulate over time. Within a single body, many bodies have existed, and lives have been lived. Some have been inherited, some performed, some imagined, and some forgotten.

Special thanks to the BBB! And a shout-out to my family and the day ones!

SEPTEMBER 25

Breath work Led by Joy-Marie Thompson

Maria Bauman
Sleep Under Your Bed If You Have To

This new dance work by Maria Bauman includes original text, choreography and a film collaboration with K.D. Chalk. Sleep Under Your Bed If You Have To is a choreopoem on accumulation, lineage, illness and faith narrated by the protagonist's two caring and nosy elder neighbor-ladies.

This artwork contains MRI images of benign tumors, which may be unsettling for some audience members.

Created and choreographed by Maria Bauman

K.D. Chalk (Filmmaker and Voice Actor) is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, and herbalist. www.KDChalk.com

Joy Brunson (Voice Actor) is an actress, entrepreneur, and community builder. She is the founder of the social film organization @BlackGirlsCinemaClub.

Siaira Shawn (Voice Actor) is a multi-medium artist and creative director. "Perfect" the first song from her upcoming album is out now. www.siairashawn.com

Big thanks to the whole Beyond the Black Box team! The BBB organization is steeped in community care, in honoring our lineages and our futurity and in Blackness. I'm honored to be invited to share with such a vital group. Hearty thanks also to my friend and collaborator K.D. Chalk for hearing my call and lending her art and her bodily experiences to this project!

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: According to the National Institutes of Health, uterine fibroids affect 80% of Black women and Black people with uteri by age 50. We develop the condition two to three times more frequently than white people. There are multiple treatment options. We don't talk about fibroids enough; may we share our truths far and wide, honoring our bodies and what they are telling us.

[1] (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3874080/)
[2] (https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/women-health/uterine-fibroids-are-more-common-and-severe-in-black-women-but-there-are-treatment-options/)
[3] (https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/understanding-racial-disparities-women-uterine-fibroids)
[4] (https://vivaeve.com/fibroids-in-black-women-why-the-risk-is-higher-and-why-the-conversation-needs-to-change/)

Dava Huesca
TABLE 17: A ChoreoPlay

Choreographed by Dava Huesca and Karmel Small
Based on the play by Douglas Lyons

Some conversations happen in words. The ones that matter happen in the silence between them.

Table 17: A ChoreoPlay reimagines Douglas Lyons' play through movement. Jada and Dallas, former fiancés, now strangers meet for dinner, ostensibly to catch up. Beneath the small talk sits unfinished business: the wedding that never happened, the love that never fully left, and the question neither will ask aloud is there still something here? Audiences are encouraged to talk back, share advice, and react aloud to the characters' choices in real time.

Thank you Zhailon Livingston for allowing me to take on this script in this broken down way.

Kayla Farrish
A pulse - the drums were never loud enough- we will never be quieted

Created and written by Kayla Farrish
Sound Collaborators- Scores from recent processes with GENG PTP and Alex MacKinnon
Additional score: pre-recorded music compiled and layered by Kayla Farrish
Lighting Design Inspiration + Research for work: Tuce Yasak

Merging research from DOCILE’s untaming- a fall from indoctrination diving into the world of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man/Woman folks and people…a desire for blackness, darkness, and to become wild. This combines with “Shed” improvisation conjure to shed into craft and the journey opening into punk and marooning defiance in the multitudes of our magic. A winding eruptive journey that can question what is happening and live at the same time…how is that?

Thank you to Beyond the Black Box for having us back to celebrate another year. Thank you to the Trisk Family for your support and artist care. Matthew Jamal we thank you for joining us on this ride.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Beyond the Black Box (BBB) is an arts and cultural non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying Black voices, fostering connections, and educating through immersive experiences. Our mission is to celebrate, honor, and uplift the Black dance community by creating supportive spaces for artists to thrive. Motivated by a desire to address the lack of representation and support we encountered in our own journeys, we are committed to promoting inclusiveness, fairness, and visibility in the dance world.

BBB achieves its mission by producing dynamic multidisciplinary works, including live dance productions, community engagement initiatives, mentorship programs, and educational opportunities. Our approach seamlessly weaves together elements of popular culture with boundless enthusiasm, showcasing the remarkable accomplishments of our community.

With your support, BBB will continue to empower Black dancers and artists who champion social and political principles of inclusivity, fairness, and visibility, ultimately enriching the cultural tapestry of our community. Together, we will create a brighter future where Black voices are celebrated and heard through the transformative power of the arts. @beyondtheblackbox

Imani Gaudin is a whimsical New Orleans born interdisciplinary dance and performing artist based between New Orleans, LA and New York, NY. She is the founder of gaudanse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding accessibility, sustainability, and wellness-based arts practices for underserved communities of performing artist. As a performer, she currently is a movement artist with Shamel Pitts’s TRIBE. Her work has been commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts, Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, and Churchtown Dairy. Additionally, her work has received support from the New York State Council on the Arts, National Performance Network, and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Imani has been a resident artist at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, New Dance Alliance, Baryshnikov Arts, and BAAD! through Pepatián’s Dancing Futures Residency, the Djerassi Resident Artist Program. In 2025, she was named a Gambit 40 under 40 Honoree, premiered her first self-produced evening length work nanibu, and made her international debut with her work mamihlapinatapai, in Paris, France.

@imani.angele @gau.danse

Catherine Kirk (she/her) is a performing artist, educator, and choreographer raised on the unceded land of the Kiikaapoi and Wichita peoples, now known as Dallas, Texas. Anchored in release, measured improvisation, and her leisurely, southern ancestral groove, Catherine creates sensorially charged and physical environments that center humanity within the modern world. Catherine has created movement-based work for installation spaces, commercials, and short films, along with choreographic commissions for varying collectives. She presented two solo works as an Artist-in-Residence at Art Cake Brooklyn and Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation, and curated an evening for Chez Bushwick’s RECESS. With a BFA in dance from New York University, a Yoga certification through The Perri Institute for Mind and Body, and a Reiki certification, Catherine’s body research and artistic interests have led her to work as a dancer/collaborator with Rashaun + Silas, Jasmine Hearn, Gallim, Rochelle Jamila, and Burr Johnson, and as a process partner with Ogemdi Ude and an apprentice with Sidra Bell Dance New York. She is featured in the Netflix series Halston, the Showtime series Ziwe, and has performed works by choreographers including Bebe Miller, Sharon Eyal, Doug Varone, and Keerati Jinakunwiphat. Catherine danced for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham for eleven years while working as the company’s Marketing Associate. She is a Contemporary Dance teacher with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey Extension program and is currently dancing in her third year with Trisha Brown Dance Company.

Curtis Thomas is a black queer performer, writer, educator, and creative consultant originally from New Orleans. With a performing career that has spanned both concert dance and theater, he has worked with artists such as Camille A. Brown, Banning Bouldin, David Dorfman, and Kayla Farrish as well as in the cast and creative team of the hit musical Waitress. Curtis also performs at the Metropolitan Opera, where he has been in productions of Carmen, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, and Aida. He is a regular collaborator with the Wilder Project, a dance film collective run by Holly Wilder where he has danced and assisted directed in numerous films that have screened around the world. Curtis is a creative and curricular consultant working with scientists, choreographers, and learners of all ages to bring embodied learning practices to a variety of spaces both in and beyond the classroom. Curtis has worked as an educator with organizations such as Dancewave (Brooklyn), Harlem Stories Project and Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp (Colorado) to help young artists discover their voices as poets, movers, and engaged citizens of the world. Curtis has recently had his poetry published by JUNO Literary Magazine in their Verses Of Pride International Queer Poetry Collection. A 2025 Brooklyn Poets Poetry Festival Fellow, Curtis has an avid love for writing and sharing poetry, and exploring the cross-section between poetry and the moving body.

Alexa Grae, (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, vocalist, and composer. Recently, they were a part of The Apollo Theater's works in process program as ‘Vox’ in Derek McPhatter’s cyber punk rock opera: water riot. They recently scored a short film titled Shed by writer and director Stephanie Jeter, out later this year. Alexa premiered their techno-opera, Tone Pillar, (dir. Stephanie Acosta), for Out-FRONT! Fest2026 curated by Pioneers Go East Collective. They have collaborated with Stephanie Acosta, Isaac Pool, Jessie Young, Same As Sister, and Pioneers Go East. Alexa released their studio song cycle ‘SEEN’ with the premiere of ‘Sur La Nuit’ an operatic - electronic music video (Matthew Ozawa & Jon Wes) at The Art Institute Chicago with Open Television. They have performed with Haymarket Opera Company, Madison Opera, The Savannah Philharmonic, and Northwestern University Orchestra.

ALEXANDER DIAZ is a New York City native hailing from the Bronx. A graduate of the University of the Arts and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program. His creative practice extends across dance, photography, filmmaking, graphic design, and visual documentation, with a focus on how storytelling can deepen audience engagement and preserve the people, processes, and histories that shape contemporary dance.

Diaz is currently the Marketing Lead at A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. He leads the organization’s marketing and digital communications, developing campaigns, visual content, and storytelling strategies that connect audiences to the company’s artists, performances, and creative work. Diaz joined A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2023.

Myssi Robinson is a Bessie award-winning performer, multi-disciplinary maker and ever-evolving giver of care raised on and returned to Powhatan lands / Richmond, VA. She has interpreted many dances / dances through many interpretations and is currently exploring imaginative archiving, mixed-media marking + design, ritual curiosity and her own improvising body. Her archival practice weaves responsive visual art, video poetry, photography, creative language and spirit-forward witnessing into material altars that interpret aliveness, choice and belonging through an affirming lens. Intuition and empathy play with maximalist impulse to give life to what comes. Gratitude to Carolyn, Darrin and all that is unseen for her life and the protections to create freely within it. Let ritual be.

Maria Bauman (Creator, Dancer, Voice Actor and Writer) is a dancer, choreographer, and community organizer from Jacksonville, FL, whose work bridges dance, contemporary performance, conjure-writing, visual art and social practice. A two-time Bessie Award winner, Bauman has performed with renowned companies and artists including Urban Bush Women, Bill T. Jones and Saul Williams, Donna Uchizono, Skeleton Architecture, Merián Soto, Makini Poe and Jermone "Donte" Beacham among others. Founder of MBDance, Maria Bauman creates immersive choreographic experiences grounded in equity, intimacy, and embodied presence. Bauman is 2025-27 Hearst Artist in Residence at Hunter College and she just finished her tenure as 2024-25 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artist-in-Residence. Other honors include the 2024 Jacki Apple Franklin Furnace Award, 2023-2026 Mertz-Gilmore/NYFA Dancer Fellowship, being the BAAD! Queer Art Exchange Artist and two Maggie Allessee National Choreographic Center residencies in addition to other national grants and residencies. A sought-after teacher and mentor, Bauman is grateful for regular opportunities to share her work with institutions such as NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Purchase Conservatory of Dance, The Ailey School, American Dance Festival, Bearnstow and the Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute. @mbdancesweatyourtruth www.mbdance.net

Dava Huesca is a performing artist and choreographer working across concert dance and musical theater. She was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2025 and is an Chita River Award Nominee as well as Bessie- and Obie Award–winning performer.

Kayla Farrish is a Black American Director merging dance-theater, filmmaking, narrative, and sound score. Her commissions include Limon Dance Company, Whim W’him, Ririe Woodbury, Armstrong Now!, Danspace, Little Island, Harlem Stage, American Dance Festival and beyond. She creates live works, films, site-specific/immersive pieces, and collaborations with musicians such as Esperanza Spalding, Trixie Whitley, Moor Mother, and Melanie Charles. Presenting spaces include Chelsea Factory, Danspace, Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, Symphony Space, and National Sawdust, Joyce Theater, among receiving support from The Pocantico Center, The Watermill Center, Works & Process, Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Baryshnikov Arts, La Mama Theater, and others.

She received the Sundance Uprise Grant for Emerging BIPOC Directors, Bessie Awards for December 8th and NYLA’s “Motherboard Suite”, New York Times Top 2021 Dance Performances “Roster” and “Breakout Star.” She is a recipient of the Harkness Promise Award for 2022. She premiered reimagined archival work for Limon at Joyce Theater (2024). She toured “Put Away the Fire, dear” supported by NEFA National Dance Project. She received Watermill Center’s Baroness Nina Von Maltzahn Fellowship and the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Choreographer Award (2023). She is a 2025 CUNY Dance Initiative Artist, NYFA/NYSCA Choreography Fellow, 2026 NY Support for Artists Grantee, and Danse Mirage Foundation Choreography commissioned artist.

Anna Wotring (Lighting Designer & Director of Productions) is a community-minded dance artist, designer, and production stage manager, dedicated to the practice of collaborative leadership. As the Director of Production at Triskelion Arts, Wotring shapes programming that makes production design accessible to movement artists, whether they're starting to explore an idea or deep in research. Trisk serves as a home, allowing artists to materialize their production vision and find imaginative pathways around and through tangible possibility. Wotring holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Five College Dance Department in Western Massachusetts. She has had the privilege of working with a wide range of dance artists and organizations, including Alvin Ailey Studios, Annie Heath, Attack Theater, Ballet Des Ameriques, BalletNext, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, the Dance Conservatory of Pittsburgh, Dance Place, H2O Contemporary Dance, Jennifer Nugent, Lauren Horn, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, New York Live Arts, the Pillow Project, Prayers of the People, RoseAnne Spradlin, Scapegoat Garden, slowdanger, Time Lapse Dance, and many others. Wotring is deeply grateful and honored to be working, imagining, and making magic with the Trisk team and community.

We respectfully acknowledge that the work of Triskelion Arts is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of Lenapehoking, the homeland of the Lenape peoples. We pay our respects to their land, water, and ancestors, past, present, and future. This acknowledgment demonstrates a commitment to the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism and to learning to be better stewards of this land.