Witnessing Her + Decolonize That Mind

Witnessing Her

Jessica Emmanuel’s commanding presence and starkly impassioned movements capture the essence of the vicarious trauma triggered by images, sounds, stories and details of senseless black deaths. A seemingly viral wave of violence belies the deeply personal impact of each confrontation, each bullet and each chalk outline.

Decolonize That Mind

“My point is that we must decolonize our minds and re-name and re-define ourselves . . . In all respects, culturally, politically, socially, we must re-define ourselves and our lives, in our own terms.” ~Max Roach.

Expanding her untitled work-in-progress Jessica Emmanuel moves deeper into the question of identity, both imposed by society and understood by oneself.

Created and Performed by Jessica Emmanuel
Lighting Design by Kirk Wilson
Set Design by Kirk Wilson
Sound Design for “Witnessing Her” by Corey Williams for King Jedi
Sound Design for “Decolonize That Mind” by Jessica Emmanuel

Jessica Emmanuel is a Los Angeles based dancer, choreographer, performance artist, educator and curator. She studied Dance & Choreography at the BOCES Cultural Arts Center in New York and is a graduate of The California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Performance & Choreography. Jessica is the founder of Human Stages and a co-founder of the theater-based artist collective Poor Dog Group. Her work has been presented internationally at the Bootleg Theater, Live Arts Exchange Festival, the New Original Works Festival at REDCAT, Montserrat DTLA, Highways Performance Space, Zoukak Studios (Lebanon), The Getty Villa, Interferences Festival (Romania), Baruch Performing Arts Center, The Curtis R. Preim Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) and The Contemporary Art Museum Santa Barbara. She has choreographed/performed for Poor Dog Group, Heidi Duckler Dance Theater, The MOVEMENT Movement, Ania Catherine Genevieve Carson, Bryan Reynolds, Paul Outlaw, No)one. Art House and Stacy Dawson Sterns. Jessica has also curated art events at various locations in Los Angeles.

more on Jessica Emmanuel:  jessicaemmanuel.com/home/