boundary migratory—created by Cyrus, a curator, multidisciplinary artist and director of the School of Dance at the University of Arizona—is a series of sculptural movement studies performed by U of A dancers that will explore ideas of movement within and through space, particularly for Black and Brown bodies.
The work asks who has the right to move and through what spaces?
The “moving sculptures” will converse with, honor, and explore the work of Arthur Monroe, currently on display at the Blue Lotus Artist Collective. Part of the First Saturday ArtWalk in the Warehouse Arts District in downtown Tucson.
boundary migratory
Nov. 2, 5-8p
Blue Lotus Artist Collective
15 E. Pennington Street
“I have been on the move throughout a career of over 40 years as a performing and visual artist—traveling across the world—where I’ve brought my work to major stages, galleries, and local communities,” said Cyrus. “I now work with an amazing community of talented experts to prepare young artists for careers in Dance — they research movement and literally stretch their bodies across or within boundaries to express ideas. My past experiences, my current perspectives within a borderland community, and the many talented people I encounter here make me think of what it means to hold space, move within boundaries, or cross various spaces. For me, this resonates with the abstract images of Arthur Monroe. I want to explore what space and a need for place means here in the Southwest. How it can also shift or have shifting parameters.”
Choreography/Curation: Cyrus
Performers: Ella Hendricks, Tucker Nance, Rashaad Rice
Stylist: Charles Palmer
Rhythmic Abstraction: The Art of Arthur Monroe
Monroe’s works reflect his participation within several of the major cultural movements of the 20th century. Born in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1935, he became steeped in the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, studied with Hans Hoffman, rubbed shoulders with Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, and frequented the Cedar Bar in Greenwich Village.
The exhibit will run through Jan. 20, 2025.