Shamel Pitts: Black Velvet – Architectures and Archetypes

Two bodies glowing as if made of liquid metal explore each other’s contours in the darkness. Shaved heads and naked torsos blur the boundaries between masculine and feminine; the dance shifts from formalised patterns to uncontrolled corporeal explosions. The loincloths worn by the couple suggest an archaic origin; geometric structures point to a technology of the future: “Architectures and Archetypes” is the subtitle of this multidisciplinary performance, with which Shamel Pitts celebrates the colour black. The titular “black velvet” is soft in texture but also absorbs light and reflects it in its very own shadowed way. What does it mean to be black today? What do semi-naked bodies signal in an over-sexualized society? Can they also be simply beautiful? The New Yorker Shamel Pitts danced with the Batsheva Dance Company for many years and is a teacher of Ohad Naharin’s movement language, Gaga. The Brazilian Mirelle Martins was lauded for her “phenomenal performance” at the ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival.

“Clothed only in loincloths, the golden fetishistic bodies seem to have emerged from the dawn of humanity.” – Der Standard, Vienna

“A performance in which analogies are drawn between choreographed dance and architectural design.” – corpusweb.net