“Threat”: Play and Politics

THREAT, choreographed by Yusha-Marie Soranzo in collaboration with TU Dance will be showing for two nights only this April at The O’Shaughessy in Saint Paul. This concert dance theater work examines how hierarchies shape both individuals and communities and is set to a unique score which utilizes orchestral strings, djembe drums, and soundbites from voices like Malcolm X, Jamaica Kincaid, and Donald Trump.

Yusha-Marie Soranzo has a long history with TU Dance and, by extension, Toni Pierce-Sands. “If you told me when I first met Tony Pierce-Sands that I would be here with her today, I would never have imagined,” says Soranzo. Soranzo was a student – still a teenager – when she first met Pierce-Sands at the Dance Theater of Harlem Summer Program. Soranzo later came to TU Dance as a guest artist and THREAT marks her second time choreographing for TU.

“I’ve been nurtured to this point,” Soranzo says. “I feel grateful in terms of Toni’s recognition of the chapters of an artist and the encouragement at each chapter. It’s wonderful to be back. It’s a full, miraculous circle.”

“We are very excited to have Yusha back to create THREAT, her second work for TU Dance, which she has been envisioning and researching for a few years,” says Toni Pierce-Sands, Founder and Artistic Director of TU Dance. THREAT was originally commissioned in 2020 and – like many artistic projects and concerts of that time – was shelved due to COVID-19.

“I stored away this piece of music until I came back last year,” says Sorzano. “It’s a work that’s been in development since 2019.” THREAT was born out of the political turmoil of the late twenty-tens. “The origin of the piece started with my response to the conflict in the country, my recognition of my fear, and my socialization to be a woman that stays in her place. [THREAT explores] how to break out of that and how to create a piece of work that makes people interrogate that.”

“What are the sounds that we hear? I go everywhere from the European opera in this work to djembe drums. It lives everywhere because I grew up everywhere.” In addition to the music there are a wide variety of spoken word soundbites used throughout THREAT. “They came specifically from the sounds I heard growing up,” Sorzano explains. “Fidel came from my upbringing in Miami, Malcolm came from my learning – my socialization – in America, and Trump because he’s everywhere.”

She pauses for a moment before confessing that she considered not including Trump, wondering if it might be “too soon”. “How can it be too soon?,” she asked herself. “It’s relevant. It’s present. As the visual artist Charles White says, ‘We should make art that reflects the sign of the times.’”

Although I could not find that exact quote from Charles White (let’s blame it on the ever-decreasing functionality of Google), I did find several quotes of his that affirm that idea and push it even further, including this one, which is referenced on MoMA’s artist page about Charles White: “Art must be an integral part of the struggle. It can’t simply mirror what’s taking place…It must ally itself with the forces of liberation.”

“Back in about 2018 I was starting to recognize how I was censoring myself for fear of conflict and specifically how that conflict would impact my livelihood,” she explains, “[That realization] prompted a self-interrogation: Why do I feel safer in holding my truth until I am in a safe space?” THREAT emerged during this process of self-interrogation and has continued to grow as Sorzano develops the piece with the dancers at TU. “It’s changing still,” Sorzano explains. “Everyone who touches the work changes it.”

Considering the amount of time and thought Sorzano had put into THREAT, her flexibility in relation to the material is impressive. That flexibility speaks to her desire to create space for other artists not only to safely navigate politically charged topics but also to access the same opportunity for creative growth that she experienced through TU. “Because of the identities of the dancers and the journeys they’ve taken I’m not rigid in terms of what the work has to be,” Sorzano explains. “The work has to interact with the people in the room to land with the audience.”

Key to THREAT is play. “The heart of all art is this instinctual pull to play,” says Sorzano. “Play always comes first.” Perhaps one of the places where this feeling of play is most pronounced is Girl, which is based on Jamaica Kincaid’s short story by the same name. The story is a long-winded list of instructions, some practical, others less so, for a young girl. “It’s just so silly the rules that this mother has for this child and then to see this girl trying to complete them in the stages of growing up,” says Soranzo. “The dancers reconnect to the play that’s needed to tell this story… It’s hilarious because it’s almost like watching a giraffe learn to walk.”

While they dig into the play that is so integral to this work, Soranzo and the dancers of TU continue to have meaningful revelations around the subjects their dance explores. “We have an extraordinary non-binary artist performing Girl. It is interesting to go on this journey with this dancer and breaking down the gender roles that are pushed on us,” says Soranzo. “When we encourage other voices to enter the room, what are the burdens that we can put down?”

These revelations, along with the overall subjects of the work, which deals with authority, obedience, and rebellion, are sure to give audiences an unforgettable experience. Soranzo’s hope is that the material is both challenging and unifying. “Theater and movies are the most obviously suited to speak to [political and social] things,” says Soranzo, but “dance is uniquely suited because dance is loved by all and done by all…At a time when we are so separate dance as an art form [can]… pull us together.”

THREAT is a limited time concert dance theater work that will be captivating, visually stunning, and thought-provoking. I’ll leave the invitation in Soranzo’s own words: “Come to play, to laugh, to cry. Come to be reflected.”

Tickets are $40 with discounts for students and seniors and can be purchased directly through The O’Shaughessy theater online or by phone using the resources listed below.

THREAT
April 26 & 27, 2024 | 7:30pm
The O’Shaughnessy Theatre, St. Catherine’s University, St. Paul
www.oshag.stkate.edu/events/
(651) 690-6700