ACCESSIBILITY
ASL interpretation and CART captioning will be provided
Run Time
90 minutes
Re-Sette the Stage: On Worldmaking
An online conversation with Maria Bauman, LaKendrick Davis, jumatatu m. poe, and Jamarsa Peters.
Moderated by Lamont Loyd-Sims. Sign up to register for free HERE.
Co-Presented by On the Boards and REDCAT
DESCRIPTION
Re-Sette the Stage brings together members of the Let ‘im Move You project with members from the Meet Me On Da Floor community in an exploration of the vastness of the Black queer majorette dance community. Let ‘im Move You is the name of a series of performance and visual art projects led by jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham that holds the Black femme and Black queer innovations of J-Sette at its center to explore team mentality, the complexities of rhythm, and the communicability of delight. Meet Me On Da Floor is a community group dedicated to assembling the many squads of J-Setters into a national unity to organize social and competitive events together, to spearhead leadership activities that engage the youth within the community, and to create and uphold standards for the J-Sette art form.
Re-Sette the Stage—a three-part conversation series happening in August, September, and October 2021—was conceived by Jermone Donte Beacham, jumatatu m. poe, and Jamarsa Peters. The August conversation will focus on the convergence and divergence points for Meet Me On Da Floor (connecting folks coming out of a more traditional relationship to J-Sette) and Let ‘im Move You (bringing folks together for experiments that take J-Sette away from its original contexts).
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Maria Bauman
Maria Bauman is a multi-disciplinary artist and community organizer from Jacksonville, FL, whose work has been celebrated both formally and informally. She founded her dance company MBDance in 2009 and co-founded ACRE (Artists Co-creating Real Equity) in 2015. Her choreography, generative scores, writing, and building for MBDance are based on physical and emotional power, insistence on equity, and fascination with intimacy. She brings the same tenets to organizing to undo racism in the arts and beyond with ACRE. In particular, her dance-writing-installation work centers the non-linear and linear stories and bodies of Black queer people in non-proscenium performance ritual settings.
---
LaKendrick Davis
LaKendrick (ChoreoJazzy Elite) Davis, is a native of Greenville, MS. He is owner/cfo of ChoreoJazzy Elite, Southern Leadership Academy for Majorettes, inc., C.U.N.T.S, Atlanta, inc., Potionx all-star alliance, elite honors awards gala, KhoreoKreations, llc. And director of the Sensational Sassettes Dance Company. LaKendrick is a nationally acclaimed, award-winning choreographic consultant with over 20 years as a performer and 15+ years as an instructor in the majorette / performing arts arena. He is a well-rounded choreographer based in the metro Atlanta, GA area with the passion and determination to uplift, support, and provide resources that will change the performance dynamic of programs all over the country.
Instagram: @choreojazzyelite, @slamjam2016, @atltoxic09
jumatatu m. poe
I am a choreographer, performer, and educator based between Philadelphia and Durham who grew up dancing around the living room and at parties with my siblings and cousins. My early exposure to concert dance was through African dance and capoeira performances on California college campuses where my parents studied and worked, but I did not start formal dance training until college with Umfundalai, Kariamu Welsh’s contemporary African dance technique. My work continues to be influenced by various sources, including my foundations in those living rooms and parties, my early technical training in contemporary African dance, my continued study of contemporary dance and performance, and my recent sociological research of and technical training in J-setting with Donte Beacham. I produce dance and performance work with idiosynCrazy productions, a company I founded in 2008 and now co-direct with Shannon Murphy. Previously, I have danced with Marianela Boán, Silvana Cardell, Emmanuelle Hunyh, Tania Isaac, Kun- Yang Lin, C. Kemal Nance, Marissa Perel, Leah Stein, Keith Thompson, Kate Watson-Wallace, Reggie Wilson, and Kariamu Welsh (as a member of Kariamu & Company). As a performer, I also collaborate with Merián Soto.
---
Jamarsa Peters
Jamarsa Peters is a business professional with an astute financial acumen, an empathic heart, and a strong sense of business and personal responsibility. These qualities were shaped largely by his family dynamic. He is the oldest of two siblings. It was after the death of his mom that he assumed paternal responsibility for his younger siblings. With this responsibility, he decided to become this paragon for positivity and for excellence that his siblings could emulate. Because he wanted to be that example for his family, he chose to pursue higher education at Grambling State University where he majored in Business Information Systems; subsequently, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in 2006. In college he was a member of the collegiate cheerleading team and received technical dance training while being a part of the Orchesis Dance Company under the direction of Dianne Maroney-Grisby, former Alvin Ailey dancer. In addition to his business acumen, he is an extremely powerful choreographer, dancer, and producer having danced with LGBTQ underground Legendary male J-Sette teams like Grambling X-Men, Memphis Elite, and the Texas Teasers where he currently resides in Dallas. Currently he is recognized as an Icon in the Meet Me On Da Floor dance community where he now serves as President while continuing to change the narrative and making a difference one 8 count at a time!
---
Lamont Loyd-Sims
Lamont Loyd-Sims (they/s/he pronouns) is a healer-poet, scholar-activist, and dance/movement arts organizer & administrator. They co-facilitate wellness care for activists and other community members through arts-based meditation sessions. She received an M.A. degree in 2014 from The Institute for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University after completing research about j-sette dance among Black gay men in the U.S.
---
Jermone Donte Beacham
Dancing has been in my blood since I can remember. It started off with hip hop dancing for my high school -- I began to recognize my skill and talent. After 4 years of that, I was introduced to the world of J-Sette by women. J-Sette historically refers to Jackson State University’s female drill team that began in the 1970s. They “created” the dance style, and thus far have made it a distinctive form of dance. I was interested in this type of dance, but not entirely until I saw a group of males performing it. At that point, I claimed the style for myself and perfected it on my body. Currently, I have my own J-Sette line, Mystic Force, and plan to increase our already considerable renown in this style of dance in our community, and eventually internationally. Previously, I served as co-captain of Dallas’ Texas Teasers. I have participated and competed in several events and competitions, including 2 SetteItOff video challenges, Atlanta Pride 2010, Tennessee Classics 2009, and Memphis Pride 2008. In 2015, I was named New Legendary by the Meet Me on the Dance Floor J-Sette council, and have gained many titles since then, such as, Best Dancer and Most Entertaining.