Here’s a last minute note about an interesting production that’s part of the Performance Project at University Settlement. Tickets are available tonight and tomorrow night. Here’s an excerpt from the press materials:
The Performance Project @ University Settlement is proud to present the world premiere of Five on the Black Hand Side/Dapline!Conceived by visual artist LaMont Hamilton in collaboration with choreographerAndré M. Zachery of Renegade Performance Group, Five on the Black Hand Side/Dapline! is an interdisciplinary project and performance exploring the origins and continued practice of “the DAP” or dapping: the intricate handshakes that serve as greetings usually between Black men in the United States. According to Hamilton the show, “looks at dapping as an inter-generational practice that is often misunderstood from the outside in.” Developed by Black combat troops during the Vietnam War, DAP was an acronym for “dignity and pride.” Through his Artist Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian, LaMont Hamilton has been interviewing and photographing Vietnam vets and gang members, as well as searching archival imagery to better understand “the DAP” as both a symbol of unity and survival in a racially turbulent atmosphere as well as a complex language for communicating information… The performance, created with choreographer André Zachery and a group of performers representing the varied experiences and backgrounds of men of color in the United States, serves as an invitation to witness the subtle and unspoken conversations between Black men in our country.
Ticket information is available here.
