A weekly, highly personal and subjective list of performances and artists we want you to know about:
Martha says:
In a culture obsessed with beauty as well as struggling with the chaos of identity, Raja Feather Kelly proclaims – and celebrates – what it means to be “UGLY”: to be black, queer, different, and an artist. Kelly is an evocative dancer, whose work with many choreographers, including Reggie Wilson and Keely Garfield, has been drawing eyes and praise for years. His recent performance art with his own company “the feath3r theory” has been powerful. In “UGLY,” a new solo piece to open Bushwick Starr’s 10th anniversary season, Kelly looks inside, for nuance in what it is to be black and queer. “We’ve had enough of broad generalizations and sweeping assumptions. Look at me,” Kelly demands, “and really experience me for more than the ‘ugly’ that you might see.” Opens on Wednesday, September 5 at 8 pm.
Cover: Raja Feather Kelly in “UGLY.” Photo © Kate Enman.
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