Grief impacts the physical being. Hatred, stress, insomnia, unease, and even weakened immune systems — all are significantly linked, per the National Institutes of Health, with the grieving process.
On the evenings of Friday and Saturday, March 21 and 22, the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance Program in Arts & Sciences at WashU will host “¿Te puedo contar algo? (Can I Share Something?),” a concert that delves into the essence, significance, and inevitability of sorrow. The event will feature original pieces by MFA candidates Tess Angelica Losada-Tindall and Lourdes del Mar Santiago Lebrón.
Artistic supervisor Elinor Harrison, a lecture instructor in dance and a faculty member associated with philosophy-neuroscience-psychology in Arts & Sciences, expressed that mourning can be for numerous elements: a residence, a nation, communities, or beloved individuals. Within their choreography, Harrison remarked, Losada-Tindall and Santiago Lebrón “carefully navigate this landscape, infusing each moment with their individual intricate narratives and lived experiences.”
“In the realms they construct, the definitions of home broaden and evolve,” Harrison continued. “Hair is transferred from shoulder to shoulder, searchlights pierce through the gloom, furniture is displaced, rice cooks on the burner. What surfaces are bold and potent representations of the connection between two women asserting their distinct artistic visions.”
Losada-Tindall, a Cuban-American performer, choreographer, and academic, frequently investigates topics surrounding family, heritage, and living between cultures. In “el cielo abajo (the sky below),” a performance featuring five dancers, she explores memories of displacement — how these experiences shape personal identity, the imprints left within the body, and the profound implications for diaspora children, who often mourn for locations they have never encountered.
In “arroz y habichuelas (rice and beans),” a collection of vignettes with six performers, Santiago Lebrón, a Puerto Rican dance artist, contends with concepts of scarcity and abundance, alongside ideas of activism, sovereignty, and national identity. It is noteworthy that both Santiago Lebrón and Losada-Tindall will embark on research in Puerto Rico later this year, thanks to a WashU Global Futures grant.
“This project interrogates whether residing in nostalgia is simply our fate or if those within the diaspora are left to choose between assimilation, acculturation, or living in a state of in-betweenness,” Losada-Tindall articulates in her thesis. “My primary objective for my creations is not to resolve these dilemmas, but rather to provide a platform for the experiences from which they originate.”
Performance
“¿Te puedo contar algo?” will commence at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 21 and 22, in WashU’s Edison Theatre. The performances are complimentary and accessible to the public. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6465 Forsyth Blvd. For further details, contact 314-935-6543 or visit pad.wustl.edu.
The article ¿Te puedo contar algo? first appeared on The Source.