The Brutal Joy: A Performative Lecture by Justine A. Chambers

Justine A. Chambers brings her performative lecture The Brutal Joy to the Studio Loft of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Friday, November 6, as part of the Biennial of the Americas. It's a companion piece to her choreographic project of the same name, which is currently touring internationally.

In the lecture, Chambers opens up the conceptual and historical underpinnings of the work. The Brutal Joy centers on Black vernacular line dance and sartorial gesture in the lineage of Black dandyism, treating them as intellectual discourse, reverie, and a devotion to Black living. Chambers speaks of dance and personal style as counter-archives, of the processes of ritualization and individuation, and of the oscillation between the riff, the vamp, and the break as a means to self-actualize. Her practice is grounded in empathic and collaborative creation and in diasporic practices as knowledge reservoirs, with gesture, gait, gaze, rhythm, textural sound, shadow, and light as materials for asking "What if?" and "Now what?"

While Chambers handles the choreography and performance, the evening brings together a full creative team: Mauricio Pauly on sound design and performance, James Proudfoot on lighting design and performance, Vanessa Kwan on dramaturgy, Old Fashioned Standards on garments, and Liam Murley on hair. It's a collaborative effort that mirrors the way the project itself is built.

The lecture starts at 7 PM, with doors opening at 6:30 PM. All entrances to the Studio Loft are accessible, and wheelchair-accessible seating is available.