Colonialism can be viewed as a set of dynamic spatial relations, of directional movements, both voluntary and involuntary, over land and sea. Indigeneity can be conceived of as a contrasting set of spatial relations, defined by a people’s reciprocal connections to land.

Can the massive movement and displacement of bodies associated with colonization be understood as choreography? What are the connections between decolonizing gestures in the work of international indigenous artists and the indigenous resurgence embodied in political movements such as Idle No More? Can a visiting indigenous choreographer, in artist’s residency in New York, connect us, through relational movement, with the indigeneity of Manahatta?

MOVEMENT: The New Global Indigenous is an experiment in conversation and relation, the first public event of the program initiative Indigenous New York.

Participants
Jaskiran Dhillon: Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Anthropology, The New School
Jack Gray: (Maori) dancer/choreographer, 2016 artist-in-residence at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute, NYU
Chris Green: writer, doctoral student in Art History, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Emily Johnson: (Yup’ik) dancer/choreographer, 2016 Guggenheim Fellow
Alan Michelson: (Mohawk) artist

We encourage participants to also attend the Indigenous Dance Forum on April 21, curated by Jack Gray.

Indigenous New York is presented in collaboration with artist Alan Michelson. It is supported, in part, by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, and is part of the Vera List Center’s 2015-2017 curatorial programs on Post Democracy.