Monkey Off My Back or The Cat's Meow

Acclaimed choreographer, dancer, and Guggenheim fellow Trajal Harrell has made a name for himself as one of the most important creators working today by generating captivating hybrid works rooted in art and dance history that reimagine our pasts and create spaces for different eras and philosophies to converge. By deftly interfacing the glorious pageantry and elaborate flourishes of the New York voguing scene and the guttural passion of the Japanese dance form butoh with modern and post-modern dance vocabulary, he has created a signature style that is both transcultural and futuristic with wide-ranging references and humor. The internationally admired and respected artist comes to the Armory for the North American premiere of his latest creation that lies at the intersection of dance, theater, history, fashion, and music.

This parade of expressiveness is as an homage to art as a free space for play and imagination, featuring a large cast of dancers and actors wearing more than 60 virtuosic looks designed by Harrell. Centered on a stunning Mondrian-like colored grid spanning the length of the performance area, this dancing runway show is turned on its head with iconography that juxtaposes everyday gestures and extravagant poses with historical references, pop culture, and political rhetoric. And while drawing on the Declaration of Independence as a foundation for the US and its urgent call for freedom, this vivid mosaic of a double-edged paradigm also explores the resulting inequalities to the forebearers of the land affected by those actions while celebrating the unifying power of community.