JORDAN DEMETRIUS LLOYD

Blackbare in the Basement

Danspace Project pays respect to Lenape peoples. We acknowledge that this work is situated on the Lenape island of Manhahtaan (Mannahatta) in Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. We pay respect to Lenape land, water, and ancestors past, present, and future.

Danspace Project Presents

Jordan Demetrius Lloyd
Blackbare in the Basement

March 9-11, 2023
7:30pm

This performance runs approximately 50 minutes.

This performance contains nudity.

Choreography: Jordan Demetrius Lloyd in collaboration with the performers 

Featuring: Bree Breeden, Wendell Gray II, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Mia Martelli, Mykel Marai Nairne, Owen Prum, José Lapaz Rodriguez, Kennedy Thomas 

Lighting Design: Kathy Kaufmann

Producing Consultant: Benedict Nguyen

Sound Arrangement: Jordan Demetrius Lloyd

Costume Consultant: Savannah Lyons

Sound credits include: 
A 478 by Kara-Lis Coverdale, 2014 Constellation Tatsu
Speechlessnesslessoness by Francisco Meirino and Miguel A. Garcia, 2017 Idiosyncratics
Grandiflora by Biosphere, 2000 Touch
A New Instability Pt. 1 by Francisco Meirino, 2021 The Helen Scarsdale Agency
A New Instability Pt. 2 by Francisco Meirino, 2021 The Helen Scarsdale Agency
Headphonics 0/0 by Ryoji Ikeda, 1996 Touch
Versitide by Fools, 2020 Music From Memory
Mur by ø and Noto, 2001 NOTON
Beispiel Swei by ø and Noto, 2001 NOTON
Unassigned by The Vernon Spring, 2021 Lima Limo Records
Lobby Kall by Smino, 2017 Zero Fatigue LLC, Under License to Downtown Records
10 by Noto, 1997 NOTON
Romaguera by Merchanted Zero, 2022 Markarala
Love by zenzen, 2022 ZENZEN
Seto by Meitei, 2019 Métron Records
Freeze Frames by Biosphere, 2017 Biophon Records
Indifference Curve by Meyers, 2016 Sympathy Limited
A Collection of Damaged Reel Tape Loops, Side B by Francisco Meirino, 2019 The Helen Scarsdale Agency
57 by Noto, 1997 NOTON
Sunny by Bobby Hebb, 1966 The Island Def Jam Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
SK-1 by The Vernon Spring, 2021 Lima Limo Records
**Featuring three original compositions by Ryan Wolfe

Bree Breeden (Performer) is a freelance performance and media artist. They were born in Cheraw, SC, raised in NJ and now lives in Brooklyn, NY with their wife and son. They graduated from Montclair State University and is currently the managing director and artist with Proteo Media + Performance and is a dance artist with Kyle Marshall Choreography, Michiyaya Dance and von Howard Project. Bree works primarily in collaboration with project based artists which includes Jessie Young, Janessa Clark, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Kinesis Project NYC, Pioneers Go East Collective, Kendra Portier and Beth Graczyk Productions. Outside of performance Bree enjoys filming, baking and exploring new landscapes.

Wendell Gray II (Performer) is a dance artist based in Brooklyn, NY.  He has worked with artists including Tere O’Connor, Joanna Kotze, Kevin Beasley, Pavel Zustiak, Maria Bauman, Jonah Bokaer, Christal Brown, J Bouey, and more. As a maker, Wendell has shown his work at Kinosaito Arts Center, Gibney, Center for Performance Research (CPR), Movement Research at Judson Church, Chez Bushwick, La Mama Galleria, and Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. He has additionally worked with companies including Michiyaya Dance, Pennsylvania Ballet II, Philadanco II, and Periapsis Music and Dance. He received his BFA in Dance from the University of the Arts in 2015 under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield and was raised in Atlanta, GA. This is his third project with Jordan. Wenings.com

Jordan Demetrius Lloyd (Choreographer, Performer, Sound Arrangement) is a dance artist based in Brooklyn, NY. He graduated from The College at Brockport and grew up in Albany, NY. He has collaborated with and performed for Beth Gill, Netta Yerushalmy, Tere O’Connor, Karl Rogers, David Dorfman Dance, Joanna Kotze, Catherine Galasso, Monica Bill Barnes, Tammy Carrasco, and Ambika Raina. His teaching practice has brought him to The American Dance Festival, Rutgers University, New York University, University of the Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, Pageant, Gibney, and Mark Morris Dance Center. His work has been produced by: New York Live Arts, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, Danspace Project's Draftwork Series, BAAD!, Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church and The Center for Performance Research. He received the 2021-23 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, was selected as a 2019 Center for Performance Research Artist in Residence, and was a 2019-21 New York Live Arts Fresh Tracks Performance & Residency Program recipient. Most recently, he was listed on Dance Magazine’s ‘25 to Watch’ list for 2023. For more, head to jordandlloyd.com

Mia Martelli (Performer) is a dance artist living and making work in Brooklyn, NY. She has been Artist-in-Residence with the West Harlem Art Fund, New Dance Alliance, The Monira Foundation, and MovementArtsGloucesterMA. Her work has been presented through the Performance Mix Festival, AUNTS, The Tank, The Brick, and in various indoor and outdoor DIY spaces across the city. Mia’s videos and visual art have been published by GRRL Haus Cinema, Queer Spectra Arts Festival, and several independent zines and publications. She collaborates as a performer for Chloe London, Jessie Young, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, and Julie Mayo.

Mykel Marai Nairne (Performer) is a Brooklyn-based freelance dance artist, administrator, and creative producer. Born and raised in New York City, Mykel studied at Alvin Ailey for 14 years, where she was a fellowship student, and later graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Film & Media Studies. After a long hiatus, Mykel re-engaged with her movement practice through intensives with Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, American Dance Festival, and Movement Invention Project and had the privilege of performing works by Bill T. Jones and Merce Cunningham, among others. She joined Dance Heginbotham soon after in 2018, and since then her freelance performance work has brought her to venues across the city, including St. Ann’s Warehouse in the Off-Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA! (dir. Daniel Fish), the Whitney Museum of Art (2019 Whitney Biennial), Brookfield Place, Marinaro Gallery, Astor Place (Joe’s Pub, Astor Alive!), and Symphony Space, to name a few. Mykel currently collaborates and performs with Dance Heginbotham, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Helen Simoneau Danse, and Megan Williams Dance Projects. mykelmarainairne.com

Owen Prum (Performer) is a New York-based dancer and co-founder of the artist-run performance space PAGEANT. He has danced for Neil Greenberg, Yoshiko Chuma and Elizabeth Dishman, among others. He holds a BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

José Lapaz Rodriguez (Performer) is a Dominican dance artist, actor, and model residing in Trenton, NJ and Brooklyn, NY. He came to the United States at the age of 11 for a better lifestyle and to reunite with his family. He is a professional contemporary dancer, vogue dancer, and vogue instructor. He has attended the American Ballet Theatre certified school at Mason Gross, under the direction of Maeve Dougal and the Princeton Ballet Intensive, under the direction of Pamela Levy, both programs on scholarship. He is an Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts and MOVE |NYC| alumni.  He has performed works by Matthew Rushing, Pam Tanowitz, Jordan Lloyd, Stefanie Batten-Bland, Roderick George, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. Aside from concert dance, he has performed as a cameo artist in the Off-Broadway ‘Hercules’ by Chase Brock, he collaborated with Mandy Moore for the Facebook Messenger commercial, Jermaine Browne for Rowan Papier’s Telfar “The Same Beat”, and danced in Chad Lawson’s ‘Prelude in D Major’ VEVO music video

Kennedy Thomas (Performer) is a Brooklyn-based dance artist and researcher. Originally from Chicago, IL, Kennedy graduated with departmental honors from Columbia University. Deeply passionate about how we connect with global audiences through new modalities of storytelling, she continues her research at the intersection of UX, tech innovation, and performance, freelancing with various dance artists and designing and directing digital and immersive experiences for Fortune 500 companies. She has performed works by Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Colleen Thomas, Beth Gill, Yin Yue, Sasha Waltz, Okwui Okpokwasili, and others.

Kathy Kaufmann (Lighting Designer) is a New York City native, and two time Bessie recipient. Blackbare in the Basement marks her first collaboration with Jordan and his company. It has been a pleasure. She designs regularly for Dorrance Dance, Joanna Kotze, The Bang Group, Mariana Valencia, Rebecca Stenn, Ephrat Asherie Dance, Vicky Shick, Mina Nishimura, and Music From The Sole.  

Benedict Nguyen (Producing Consultant) (IG: @xbennyboo) is a #freelanceflailing dancer, writer, and creative producer based on unceded Lenapehoking and Wappinger lands (South Bronx, New York). Her criticism has appeared in Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Review of Books, BOMB Magazine, and AAWW’s The Margins, among other outlets. Recent projects include their curatorial platform "soft bodies in hard places," the newsletter “first quarter moon slush,” #bennyboosbookclub, and the zine nasty notes (2022). 

SPECIAL THANKS FROM JORDAN DEMETRIUS LLOYD

I would like to thank the generous, thoughtful, and devoted performers of Blackbare in the Basement. This show would not be possible without their trust and admirable work ethic. 

I would like to thank Benedict Nguyen for their support in manifesting my visions. Their diligence, thoughtfulness, and commitment to the arts is among their many shining attributes. 

I would like to thank Judy Hussie-Taylor, Seta Morton, Ben Kimitch, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Niko Tsocanos, Lily Cohen, Rosaly Ruiz, Jodi Bender, and all involved at Danspace Project for their trust and support. 

I would like to thank my amazing friends who keep me going. Special thanks to: Savannah Lyons, Jade Manns, Beth Gill, Ariana Speight, Kyle Marshall, Ryan Wolfe, Tiffany Lloyd and Gwen Knapp, for their direct support of this project. 

I want to thank my parents Vallencia Lloyd and Curtis Lloyd for their unwavering trust and support. 

I want to thank my best friend and performer Wendell Gray II for holding me up with gentleness and care.

Lastly, thank you to the New York Dance Community. I love y’all deep. The bravery, passion, and rigor that runs through this city inspires me daily. I am so grateful to be here.

SUPPORT FOR BLACKBARE IN THE BASEMENT

This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Governors Island Residency Program, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and Danspace Project’s Renewal Residency Program.

Jordan Lloyd was a 2021 inaugural Danspace Project Renewal Residency artist along with Mina Nishimura, Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez, and Gillian Walsh, generously supported by the Mellon Foundation.

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DANSPACE PROJECT COMMUNITY GUIDELINES
At Danspace Project, we value people, connections, inquiry, listening, adaptability, and equity. 
These values can only be upheld when respect, care, and safety are practiced.
Please use this guide to help prioritize the safety of the physical and virtual spaces in which we gather. 

Please click here to view our Community Guidelines

ACCESSIBILITY AT DANSPACE PROJECT
Please click here for more information on Accessibility in our space 

COVID SAFETY
All guests and staff must wear a surgical face-mask while inside Danspace Project (KN95 or N95 recommended).

Please click here for more information on Covid Safety in our space

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ABOUT DANSPACE PROJECT
Danspace Project presents new work in dance, supports a diverse range of choreographers in developing their work, encourages experimentation, and connects artists to audiences.

For almost 50  years, Danspace Project has supported a vital community of contemporary dance artists in an environment unlike any other in the United States. Located in the historic St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, Danspace shares its facility with the Church, The Poetry Project, and New York Theatre Ballet. Danspace Project’s Commissioning Initiative has commissioned over 570 new works since its inception in 1994.

Since 2010, we have produced fourteen Platforms, published fourteen print catalogues and five e-books, launched the Conversations Without Walls discussion series, and explored models for public discourse and residencies.

Danspace Project Values Statement

Staff
Executive Director & Chief Curator: Judy Hussie-Taylor
Deputy Director: Jodi Bender
Communications Director: Lily Cohen
Development & Communications Manager: Severine Kaufman
Program Director/Associate Curator: Seta Morton
Director of Development: Tricia Pierson
Program & Operations Manager: Rosaly Ruiz
Grants Manager: Nora Thompson
Production Manager: Niko Tsocanos
House Managers: Jordan Morley & Emily C. Wong
Box Office Managers: Niala, Antonio Irizarry, Ella Wasserman Smith

Consultants & Special Projects
Lighting Designers: Kathy Kaufmann & Carol Mullins
DraftWork Curator: Ishmael Houston-Jones
House Photographer: Ian Douglas

Board of Directors
President: Melissa Levin
Vice President: David Parker
Secretary: Rashaun Mitchell
Treasurer: Judilee Reed
Officer-at-Large: Anthony Calnek
Officer-at-Large: Helen Warwick
Yona Backer
Suzanne Bocanegra
Trisha Brown, In Memoriam, 2006-2017
Douglas Dunn, Emeritus
David Fanger
Ishmael Houston-Jones, Emeritus
Judy Hussie-Taylor
Thomas Lax
Ralph Lemon, Emeritus
Bebe Miller, Emeritus
Sam Miller, In Memoriam, 2013-2018
Sarah Needham
Eiko Otake
Nina Winthrop

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THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS
Danspace Project gratefully acknowledges the private support of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters ArtsForward Program, made possible through support from the Mellon Foundation; The Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts; The Barbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; Marta Heflin Foundation; Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities​​; Jerome Foundation; Lambent Foundation Fund, a fund of the Tides Foundation; the Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; The New York Community Trust—George N. and Mary D. Lindsay Fund; Jerome Robbins Foundation; James E. Robison Foundation; The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.; The Shubert Foundation; and the Henry Luce Foundation, the Teiger Foundation, and Willem de Kooning Foundation, through the Coalition of Small Arts.

Danspace Project programs are made possible in part through public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the NYS DanceForce (a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature); and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Danspace Project extends special thanks to City Council members including Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Chi Ossé, District 2 representative Carlina Rivera, and Speaker Adrienne E. Adams; New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, and State Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick for their advocacy and support; as well as gratitude for Senator Charles E. Schumer’s visionary leadership of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program.

Danspace Project receives additional support from Ford Foundation, Moody’s Foundation, and The William Penn Foundation through matching gift programs. 

Special thanks to the following supporters for their generosity in many forms throughout the years: Elise Bernhardt and fleur elise bkln, the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust, Ozone Design, and Ugly Duckling Presse.

DANSPACE PROJECT GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES OUR INDIVIDUAL DONORS

Leadership Supporters: Jody & John Arnhold, Yona Backer*, Suzanne Bocanegra* & David Lang, Carol Bryce-Buchanan, Anthony Calnek* & Linda Sugin, Barbara Bertozzi Castelli, David L. Fanger & Martin Wechsler, Vallejo Gantner, Judy Hussie-Taylor*, Thomas J. Lax* & Andrew Wallace, Melissa Levin*, Carol LeWitt, Frances Milberg, Timothy & Virginia Millhiser, Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener, Sarah Needham*, Eiko Otake*, David Parker*, Jana Reed, Judilee Reed*, Sara Rudner, Martha Sherman, Linda Stein, Pat Steir, Christina L. Sterner & Steve Poses, Helen* & Peter Warwick, Nina Winthrop*, David & Monica Zwirner

Danspace Project would like to acknowledge the generosity of former Board member and ongoing Leadership Supporter Terry Creach, who passed away suddenly last fall. Our heartfelt gratitude for his support of Danspace, in many ways, for many years.

$5,000+ Michelle Coffey, Diana DiMenna, Becky Goldring, Colleen Keegan

$1,000+ Jody Oberfelder, Muna Tseng, Lucy Vasserman, Sarah Arison, Paul Bader, Niki Berg, Julio Cabanillas, Kim Chan, Sara Coffey, Aidan Connolly, Paula Cooper, Katie Dixon, Hilary Easton & Joshua McHugh, Jane Hait, Pearl Huang, Mara Isaacs, Chui Lim Tsang, Pat Matthews, Amy Schwartzman, Kimberly Ayers Shariff, Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg, Kenneth Tabachnick, Anthony Zisa

$500+ Lillian Cho, Jane Comfort, Rachel Cooper, Donald L. Creach, Jacqueline Z. Davis, Kamilah Forbes, Boo Froebel, Kathy Halbreich, Philip Himberg, Elise Jaffe, Brad Learmonth, Elizabeth Liguori, Kitty Lung, Cynthia Mayeda, Joseph V. Melillo, Jana Reed, Yancey Richardson, Mark Russell, Miranda Schiller, David Sheingold, Linda Shelton, C. Adair Smith, Crispy Soloperto, Allan Sperling, Elise Thoron, Lisa Yancey, Jenny Yee

$250+ Philip Bither, Carol Bryce-Buchanan, Amy Cassello, Phyllis Fanger, Susan Feder, Robert Flynt, Kennis Hawkins, Robert Henderson, Cristina King Miranda, Donald Kursch, Zoe Leonard, Esther McGowan, Anne B. Miller, maura nguyën donohue, Madeleine Nichols, Alessandra Nicifero, Derek Sands, Carrie Schneider, David Thomson, Kay Turner, Jennifer Wright Cook

$100+ Martita Abril, Myriam Barenbaum, Roslyn Biskin, Tiffany Brathwaite, Art Bridgman, Travis Chamberlain, Nora Chavooshian, Peggy Cheng & Christopher Morrow, Ping Chong, Jean Cook, Nancy Dalva, Gail Donnenfeld, Toni Dorfman, Susan Dowling-Griffiths, Douglas Dunn, Ruth Eisenberg, Peter Eisenhauer, Molissa Fenley, Melanie George, Michal Ginach, Sheri & Robert Gold, Abby Harris Holmes, Christopher Hibma, Huong Hoang, Stephen Hoffman, Sarah Hooker, Daonne Huff, Ethan Kaufman, Jennifer Kessler, Katinka Kleijn, Marion Koltun, Phyllis Lamhut, Susan Marshall, Daniel Mauk, Brian McCormick, Lisa Nelson, Claudia Norman, Tere O’Connor_, Morgan Pecelli, Tricia Pierson, Seemin Qayum, Liz & Kirk Radke, Alexandra Ripp, Davison Scandrett, Elizabeth Schwartz, Diego Segalini, Vicky Shick, Janet Stapleton, Lena Stringari, Erica Sweany, Linnaea Tillett, Richard Tsao, Laurie Uprichard, Aynsley Vandenbroucke, Eleanor Wallace, Gwen Welliver, Marya Wethers, Bruce Williams, James Wright

As of 2/22/23

*Danspace Project Board member