Initiation – In Love Solidarity is a choreographic narrative exploring the embodiment of the Middle Passage, and the resilience and evolving identities of women in the African diaspora. A film component of the work was created at historic sites in New England related to the transatlantic slave trade and emancipation. The imagery of the cowrie shell is present throughout, chosen as an emblem of the transformative identity of the Black female body.
Memorial Church Sanctuary, Harvard Yard, Cambridge
The Harvard University Choir presents an open rehearsal with Pedro Memelsdorff of "“Messe en cantiques," a reconstruction of a mass as it would have been sung by freed and enslaved Africans in colonial Haiti.
Thirty minutes of organ music will be performed on the Fisk and Skinner organs of The Memorial Church of Harvard University. Free and open to the public.