A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
“...Combining dance, storytelling, and song, between wave and water is an immersive journey where fragments of ancestral memory guide the audience through layers of history. A contemporary Bronx Trickster character leads the way, colliding our present realities with the pervasive yet irretrievable past. Trickster tells stories, invented mythologies that expose and disrupt dominant narratives. The performers mirror and amplify Trickster’s double-talk and duplicity, and at other times translate unspeakable memories into movement…"
“...Background: A 1910 photograph titled “Slave Burying Ground” from the Museum of the City of New York collection documents the location where Africans enslaved by the Hunt, Leggett, and Willet families were laid to rest in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. Today, this area—now known as Drake Park—serves as a memorial to the slave-owning families’ plots. However, no tangible evidence of the burial ground or the African ancestors buried there remains. In 2023, the site received landmark status, recognizing the enslaved people who were central to the area’s history and ensuring the burial ground is preserved and protected. This historical legacy informs Pace’s current work, which seeks to honor and reclaim the narratives of those buried at the site through interdisciplinary, process-driven art and community engagement.
between wave and water is written and directed by Alethea Pace, and choreographed by Pace with the dancers. Music is composed and arranged by S T A R R busby, with lyrics by Alethea Pace. The work is performed by nine extraordinary performers: Maria Bauman, S T A R R busby, Imani Gaudin, Darvejon Jones, Alex LaSalle, Alethea Pace, Maleek Rae, Katrina Reid, and Indigo Sparks. Costume design is by Mauricio Barrera..."
