It would be impossible to summarize fully the experience of witnessing, and participating in, this remarkable performance event, but I want to follow one persistent image that, for me, distilled the political challenge it engaged. That is the image of the American flag. From the opening scene on the sidewalk, when Barber, body quavering and tears running down his cheeks, holding a cluster of cotton balls dyed red, white and blue, slowly approached Esther Baker-Tarpaga, in tight red shorts and red-, white- and blue-striped tube socks, the flag and its signature color scheme pervaded both the outfits and the sets. Duane Lee Holland, a dancer of remarkable talent and strength, sported flag-themed socks and a red, white and blue Stetson; Baker-Tarpaga donned and doffed American flags throughout the hour-long event; Barber, during the second part of the performance, stood in the corner of a smaller room to the rear of the building, legs apart with his back to the audience, vigorously waving an American flag; Courtney Jones, a brilliant trumpeter, played a panoply of patriotic standards throughout. The clearest message of this pervasive imagery felt obvious at first: America, bastion of white supremacy and cauldron of gun violence, is the perpetrator, the enemy. No one would pledge allegiance to that flag.
The residency that resulted in this service was commissioned by the Englert Theater. In addition to Baker-Tarpaga, a choreographer and performance artist based in Philadelphia; Barber, a recent graduate of UI’s illustrious Intermedia program; Holland, a dancer, choreographer, singer, actor and director recently appointed as the Boston Conservatory’s first faculty member specializing in hip-hop dance; and Jones, who is just finishing a stint as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Voxman School of Music, the group included Raquel L. Monroe, a scholar, artist, and activist based in Chicago; Heidi Wiren Bartlett, a sculptor and performance artist based in Iowa City; and Adam Burke, a local videographer who recorded the entire event. And if you missed it, don’t worry — they’ll be back at the Englert in fall 2017.