Part of Hancher’s 52nd Season

Reframing the boxing ring as a site for a duet rather than a duel, Touch of RED brings vulnerability to the fore.

Shamel Pitts—a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow in choreography—founded the multidisciplinary arts collective TRIBE in 2019. Touch of RED is the beautiful new entry in Pitts’s and TRIBE’s ongoing Red Series, which explores Black multiplicity and human connection. Touch of RED is a duet for Black men who come together in a boxing ring—not for a display of aggression but rather for an exploration of vulnerability, effeminacy, and healing. With the audience surrounding the ring—which is also a pulsing night club dance floor—the dancers connect over 10 rounds filled with energy, anticipation, and a shared softening that sweeps in the viewers as well as the performers.

“The movement [in Touch of RED] remains virtuosic and unrelenting, which is what makes [the dancers’] softness so radical. They accomplish breathtaking feats at all levels, and always return to each other.” — LA Dance Chronicle

PROGRAM:
Reimagining the boxing ring from a space of duels to one of duets, Touch of RED unfolds over the course of ten rounds:
1. RED Pollock
2. Lifeblood
3. Embers/Embraces
4. Interlude
5. Umbilical
6. The Glitch
7. gloves off!
8. Touching
9. Father | Son
10. Borderline Blood Burial

This performance will be presented in a thrust configuration (seating on three sides); capacity is 226. All seating will be set up on the Hadley stage. This configuration is used primarily for daring, intimate, and immediate performance.