Black girl spectrum tour 2021

Camille A. Brown & Dancers relaunched its Black Girl Spectrum Tour this winter.

It is an immersive opportunity for a promising, young Black female dancer to accompany CABD in residency, with the flexibility to carve out an experience that is most meaningful to her.

Brown chose Tatiana Barber as the first apprentice participant in the Black Girl Spectrum Tour relaunch.

Tatiana’s Weekly Reflections from the PS21 Bubble Residency

WEEK 1
Imagine walking into a room and the musicians are jamming, people doing pushups, sit ups, rolling out their muscles, ballet bar, grooving, etc. Creativity happening in every inch of the room. Initially starting out felt unreal, but once we got through introductions and icebreakers I began to feel right where I need to be. We began workshopping character development to reimagine a piece of work on The Great Migration. After creating gestures I soon learned that I didn’t know much about The Great Migration. Camille began creating a skeleton, we individually performed our characters story, followed by constructive feedback. Camille then directed us to make new choices; Developing the same character, but with a new journey. I particular enjoyed this because everyone’s story dramatically evolved. Expansion of my artistry was already in full effect. The following days we dove deeper into research, exploration, encouragement, discussion, celebration, and gratitude. My theme for this week is, “There are many ways to get somewhere.”

This week highlighted how we are all invested in creating a nonjudgmental space that welcomes change. I am even more inspired to walk in the room with an open mind, eager body, and free spirit. I’ve enjoyed observing everyone’s individuality unfold, within this 6 day work period and look forward to what week 2 will bring.

WEEK 2
Week 2 Complete! Musicians still jamming, artists still warming up, a variety of styles for company class, and then boom! Camille continues creating. There was a lot of creating, copy, paste, remove, enter, and space happening. It was like editing an essay or chapter to a new book. Things evolved moment by moment. This was the most movement I think a lot of us had done in a looooong time. 

Towards the end of the week, we were elated to know that we could be mask-free, the sun came out more, we traveled the world through exceptional cuisine, and the week finished with work in an exciting place. Not only did we research black history/culture in the studio, but it would continue when we got back home. Most nights we’d watch a black movie and then have a discussion about it as a family. On Saturday as I gazed at the full moon, I thought about how grateful I am to be a part of this magic and how ending black history month at this bubble residency has been an especially meaningful experience.

All and all everyone is a joy to be around. Our vastly different personalities bring something special to the rehearsal space. My theme for this week is “Children at Play!” As I prepare for week 3, I look forward to where this playfulness leads.

WEEK 3
The number 3 can be significant for its symbolism of harmony, wholeness, and completion. After completing week three I truly feel we reached a turning point in the residency. We are all now more acquainted with a greater sense of purpose and direction. At the very beginning of the residency, the challenge was getting used to being back in the studio, but now the product gets more exciting moment by moment.

There are many things that I love about this Bubble Residency process, but one that stands out to me, this week, is the way Camille continuously asks herself “why” when she is creating. As I reflect I realize I’ve often asked everyone else “why” they’d do something, but Camille is inspiring me to ask that of myself more, which is helping me get closer to achieving my goals of self-mastery and beyond. She is also invested in telling old and new stories in an unpredictable way, which in my opinion makes everything more engaging. In the studio and in life things are constantly changing which can sometimes be very frustrating, depending on one's perception. To me change naturally leads to growth and from what I’ve learned if something isn’t growing it’s essentially dead. For that reason, I welcome change and continue to find strength in the power of choice in all areas of my life. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but although there is a structure in this process Camille’s work increasingly has a limitless nature due to the individual choices made. In the words of Aristotle, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” which to me highlights the significance of collaboration and community we are building here. Camille also makes it clear that her work may take many forms, which shifts my perspective on the idea of completion. We are never really done. Every day is an opportunity for new beginnings. My theme for this week is, “Less is More” because we didn’t necessarily work harder we worked smarter and with greater intention. The goal hasn’t been to merely spit out steps, but to create something meaningful. I am grateful for week three and all the transformations taking place. Week four, here we come!  

WEEK 4
Reflecting on this past week makes me think of an amusement park. We did enough non-traditional dance activities for me to feel like we went outside of the bubble. Thankfully, most of it is on film now that the documentarian, Bowie, has arrived. There are so many highlights that I can’t just mention one. Chef Joey started out our week with a crawfish boil. Maleek Washington and Juel Lane guided us through a fun Instagram takeover for the Mellon Foundation that funded this Residency. I had the opportunity to teach a class and led a meditation; Both were firsts that helped me overcome some of my fears about leadership. Chloe Davis curated a Self-Care workshop, started with my guided meditation followed by discussion, reflection, journaling, and prayer. Everyone, including the musicians and Robert, participated. We all allowed ourselves to be vulnerable with our words as opposed to our bodies; a rarity in the dance world. Thursday was a glorious day! 60 something degree weather, sun shining, sunglasses on, no jackets, nice breeze, and everyone full of joy. Friday Courtney, Onyxx, and I worked with Cat Foster to learn a segment titled “Double Dutch” from Black Girl Linguistic play and although, we were all pretty anxious about the polyrhythms we had a great time and felt encouraged every step of the way.

My theme for week 4 is “Be open to the unexpected goodness!” This process has been ever-changing which also requires openness to adaptability. Each week we have elevated the work with either more steps, more storyline research, more discussion, or all three. There is definitely never a dull moment. The marathon continues.