Sharon Bridgforth talks about the development of her upcoming project, “River See”
Article and photo by Bruna indalecio
On her last visit to Miami, Sharon Bridgforth took a big
step in the development of her new work, “River See”. The script is now finalized
and the project is close to coming together for its premiere next year, in
Chicago, and for the awaited Miami debut, which will take place either in late
2014 or beginning of 2015.
In an interview with Diaspora vibe – her Miami commissioner and
supporter – she talks about her life in arts, influences and the growth of “River
See”.
Diaspora Vibe: How
did you start getting involved with art?
Sharon Bridgforth:
I’ve been writing since I was 15, but I didn’t share my work publicly until I
was 30. And when I was 30, I moved from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, and I was
working in social services, I was a community organizer and I was working
around issues having to do with HIV, aids and early intervention and family
planning. And I fell in with a group of activists who were artists that used
art as a vehicle for social justice. I feel that that was my graduate school,
they trained me and also gave me space and access and nurturing support. So, I
kind of took my work out of the suitcase, so to speak, and started sharing work
publicly. Initially I was using my work as a way to invite people to access
services, so myself and the other artists that were involved in the social justice
work that we were doing, that that’s how we would attract people that hopefully
would then want to access the services that we were working to provide. Then,
at some point, it just flipped and I realized that art could be service and it
could be the thing that I did as social justice action.
DV: Who are your
influences to compose your body of work?
SB: I am very
inspired and influenced by Lori Carlos, she was one of the original cast
members in the original production of “For Colored Girls Who Consider Suicide
When the Rainbow Is Enuf”, also by Ntozake Shange, who was the writer of that
piece. Robbie McCauley, who was also in “For Colored Girls” and is also known
for a piece she did called “Sally’s Rape”, amongst other pieces; Sekun
Sundiata, who transitioned I think it’s been a couple of years now. Many
aspects of Sekun’s work, but particularly his last piece, the piece that he was
completing when he died, called “51st (dream) State”, the way that he put the
piece together and toured was really astonishing to me and really inspiring and
I got to see it in development and talk to him. Also Hannibal Lokumbe, who
lives in Texas, is based in Texas and I got to meet some years ago, and he kind
of took me in and exposed me to a way of touring really big pieces that I found
inspiring, affective and exciting. And Daniel Alexander Jones, Helga Davis, Johnny
Jones, Sonja Perryman, and many others.
DV: Tell us
little more about you new project, “River See”.
SB: “River See”
is a series of blues stories that I’ve written that documents a young girl’s
journey in her spiritual growth and development and also in her physical
journey, from the delta south to the north. So See, the girl, is about to
become part of the great migration here in the US. Her stories take place kind
of the moment before that migration happens. In her stories, See tells us about
her ancestors, her community, her family and her own struggle as she moves
towards this really big change in her life, and culturally it was a big change
for people at that time.
The pieces become activated as jazz, through the live
performance, so in the live performance one actor plays See and tells the
stories and then through an improvisation process that happens during
performance, I compose the rest of the story live with singers and dancers, and
musicians and the audience, we create together a moving soundscape that
supports See in her journey and in the story that she’s telling.
DV: How do you
expect to integrate the story with the Miami scene?
SB: The touring
party for “River See” is myself and the actor Sonja Parks, so everywhere that
“River See” goes Sonja and I go. And, with the support and help of the
presenting organization, we cast locally, so there will be local singers,
dancers and musicians that will be in the piece and because it is an
improvisational process that brings the piece to life, I depend on each performer
to create the architecture that holds the story. The dance, the specific ways
of singing, the collective experience and knowledge of the region will be
embodied in the performers and it will come through as they respond to the
improvisational signals that I give them. Also, the audience is invited to
participate as what I call “witness participants”, so I will ask the audience
to translate texts, to speak some the text and I’ll ask the audience to offer
gestural language. Then, at the top of each show, I ask who wants to
participate in these various ways, and then we practice with them and we incorporate
them to the piece as well. So, really, the structure, because this is jazz, is
the story, though See is kind of holding the structure together and I, as
composer, am holding the structure down, but how it unfolds will be specific to
Miami, because we’re depending on the Miami artists and audience to help us.
DV: How is the
experience of bringing the show here with the support of Diaspora Vibe?
SB: I adore Rosie
Gordon-Wallace and I’ll go anywhere she says ‘go’ and I’d do anything she asked
me to do. And she is an exquisite host, with Rosie’s support and Diaspora
Vibe’s backing I’ve been introduced to the community here in Miami, I have not
been in Miami before and it has just been an exquisite blessing. I mean, I feel
that I’m being nurtured and supported with a lot of grace and generosity and
there is an unending amount of talent here, so it’s inspiring and I feel filled
and I love the international flavor that is here and I’m really excited to work
with and be inspired by that in the work. It just doesn’t get any better,
because the river is here and I’ve been to the spots where the river meets the
ocean and that is the heart of the story. It’s perfect.
DV: What are the
next steps to continue the project?
SB: I’m in a
really great position now because with support from the National Performance
Network (NPN) commissioning funds I have five commissioners. Diaspora Vibe is
one of the commissioners, so I have had the support of five commissioning
communities plus NPN and I’ve been really spending a lot of time developing not
only the text, but also the technique to make this project successful and to
bring these ideas to life in an affective way in performance. I feel that I’m
coming towards the way of that development process. I feel that I, now, have
the tools to actually do what it is and I have the experiences and I have had
the support of many individuals and communities, to know how to do the work and
I’m almost done with the script. So the next step is that I really have to
package this work to tour. I need to now create the promotional packages. I
need to make sure that I have a lighting and scene design that is tourable, a technical
writer that is doable, an internet presence for the work that is meaningful and
has a far reach, so that, as the work premieres, and the work will premiere in
Chicago, at Links Hall, in 2014, we can be sure that it will live in many
communities on the road. This moment is really interesting because it’s right
before the premiere and it’s right as the development process is over, but in
some ways it’s as important as the development itself, because now I have to
make sure that all the parts are together for it to succeed after the premiere.
That’s where I’m at now, looking towards that.
DV: Any other
future projects?
SB: This trip
I’ve focused on completing the script for “River See” and I’m very, very, close.
And the next project that I will do, that I’m already kind of feeling in my
heart, is a song cycle. I want to write a series of songs that are about love
in the sense of infinite love. My goal is to have the songs installed in spaces
like museums, maybe outdoor spaces too, so that the performers travel with the
songs and the audience travels with the performers, but instead of singers I
want there to be a chorus of people speaking different languages, so that the
musicality of languages are the music that carries these words about love. I’m
excited!
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