Événement

A Performance by Dazié Grego-Sykes

A multidisciplinary solo performance that explores blackness as a social construct by Best of the 2017 San Francisco Fringe winner, Dazié Grego-Sykes. A daring deconstruction of the African-American experience, and the weight imposed upon it by language, history, and ever-evolving societal norms, It is a work that challenges both artist and audience through video, movement, music, monologue, and an unflinching usage of blackface. Named fearless by the San Francisco Chronicle, densely-poetic by the Mercury News, and avant-garde, raw, and truthful, by San Francisco Fringe Festival audiences, "Offers an unconventional and unapologetic commentary on racism and its impact on the Black individual.

Dazié Grego-Sykes is a poet, artist and activist whose performance style was developed at The Experimental Performance Institute at New College, San Francisco, where he received his BA in Queer Performance and Activism. Hes developed, produced, and toured several multidisciplinary solo plays including "3," "Where Is Adam" and "Am I A Man." This performance was originally commissioned by the Queer Cultural Center and has been performed at The Marsh, The Flight Deck, and The San Francisco Fringe Festival where it received the Best of Fringe Award in 2017. In Fall of 2018, Dazié earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing from The California Institute of Integral Studies.

Artist Statement: It was after being told by people who were darker than myself to stay out of the sun I first wondered, why wouldnt a black person want to be blacker? My conclusion is that the closer ones complexion is to a minstrel show character the more likely they are to be dehumanized and stereotyped by society. Within this piece, I employ Black Face as a metaphor for Black performativity in a way that its potency can be manipulated to excite resistance surrounding colorism and internalized racism. Art is supposed to challenge our preconceived notions. It must change the artist and can change the audience. Ive been changed by this experience, and will be sharing how and why through the development of a follow-up piece, "Decolorism."