Emmy-Nominated Choreographer Jeremy McQueen’s Black Iris Project Presents
WILD: Act 1
The Second Installment Of A Groundbreaking New Feature Length Dance Film Exploring Systemic Racism and Injustices Through the Real-life Accounts Of Youth Embroiled in the Justice System
Premiering Exclusively on BronxNet Television to the Bronx Community Beginning Saturday, March 13th
World Premiere on Monday, March 15th
Elijah Lancaster in “WILD: Act 1”, photo by Matthew Murphy.
Celebrated Emmy-nominated choreographer Jeremy McQueen today announced the world premiere of the second installment of his groundbreaking new ballet and four-part dance film entitled WILD to be presented under his Black Iris Project. Jeremy McQueen’s Black Iris Project, the only ballet collaborative of its kind in the country dedicated to telling stories about the Black experience and to providing a platform and safe haven for Black artists, celebrates its fifth anniversary this month. With social justice issues dominating the current national conversation, WILD explores systemic racism and injustice through the real-life accounts of youth who have grown up in juvenile detention centers around the country. The second installment of the four parts will premiere exclusively on BronxNet Television to the Bronx community beginning Saturday, March 13th. The world premiere of WILD: Act 1 will stream exclusively on Vimeo On Demand from Monday, March 15th though Sunday, April 11th. Visit www.blackirisproject.org/wild beginning March 15th to purchase a ticket. Additional parts of “WILD” will debut in the Spring and Summer of 2021.
Click here to watch “WILD: Overture”
Inspired by Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s novel Where the Wild Things Are, WILD follows the journey of several young men as they struggle to break free from the systemic injustices that permeate Black and Brown communities. Using physical movement to illustrate and honor the history of Black bodies moving through space while encountering oppression, this cutting-edge contemporary ballet will incorporate poetry, reflective journal entries, visual art, and original music, WILD transforms the young men’s personal stories into an artistic dance work which is intended to be a reclaiming of time, unity, space, and Black culture.
Elijah Lancaster in “WILD: Act 1”, photo by Matthew Murphy.
The second installment, titled WILD: Act 1, traces the journey of a young man celebrating his 14th birthday behind bars, explores the effects of isolation and imprisonment on childhood development. McQueen was deeply moved upon seeing a photograph by Richard Ross at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. WILD: Act 1 is also inspired by and features Ross’ award-winning book, Juvenile-in-Justice , a collection of images, interviews, audio documents, and texts created over a dozen years, at 300 sites in 35 states, drawn from the lives of more than 1,000 kids. Ross’ work turns a lens on the placement and treatment of American juveniles housed by law in facilities that treat, confine, punish, assist and, occasionally, harm them.
Click here to learn more about the collaborators
Rehearsed both on Zoom and safely in person, as part of a two-week “bubble” residency at Vineyard Arts Project in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, WILD: Act 1 is filmed and edited by ongoing Black Iris Project collaborator and award-winning cinematographer Colton Williams/Three Strikes Inc. “Act 1” is led by dancer Elijah Lancaster (Ailey II) with additional performances by Fana Tesfagiorgis (formerly of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), Quaba Ernest, Derick McKoy, Jr. (Nimbus Dance) and Eric Parra (Limón Dance Company). The soundtrack for “WILD: Act 1”, presented in a mixtape-like format, features original works composed by internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter morgxn, actor & former Hamilton cast member Phillip Johnson Richardson (Phil.), R&B artist Brittany Campbell, sound design artist Mauricio Escamilla, and Seattle, Washington based composer Chari Glogovac-Smith. “Act 1” also features illustrations by Aria Feliciano and projection design by Yale School of Drama graduate Brittany Bland.
Elijah Lancaster in “WILD: Act 1”, photo by Matthew Murphy.
McQueen, a recently named 2020 Soros Justice Fellow from Open Society Foundations recipient, is the first choreographer to receive the highly coveted fellowship since its inception in 1997. McQueen hopes WILD will encourage and inspire youth of color to pursue the arts, movement and music as an expressive outlet as well as means for educating audiences about how Black history relates to the modern Black journey.
“Since its inception in 2016, BIP has been committed to telling Black narratives through ballet and to using art as a mirror to reflect the times and consistently intertwine themes of social justice in everything we do. As someone who has worked to break through many doors in the world of dance, particularly ballet, I feel it is our duty as artists to be a catalyst for those that are unheard, unseen, and undervalued. I am committed to, now more than ever, dismantling those barriers through my art,” McQueen stated. “This fervent effort stems from the need to address issues currently plaguing our nation from civil unrest to systemic oppression to the societal ripple effects of COVID-19. In order for us to heal as a society, we have to expose the wounds that have historically been overlooked. With WILD specifically - which I view as a tough work centered around healing - we wanted to continue to uplift diversified voices while breaking down the ivory silos and pillars so that we not only have a seat at the table and our work on the table, but to ensure that the voices of the voiceless are heard and amplified.”
Set and filmed in The Bronx, New York, WILD’s first installment, Overture premiered in November 2020 and featured dancers Shawn Lesniak (Paul Taylor Dance Company), AJ Libert (Sidra Bell Dance New York), and DaMond Garner (Parson Dance Company). The films original score included musical contributions from singer/ songwriter Morgxn, Jazz composer and bassist Amina Scott, hip hop artists Wes Period & Shmuck the Loyal, actor & former Hamilton cast member Phillip Johnson Richardson (Phil.), popular singer/songwriter Josh Dean and with original poetry by emerging New York City poet Gabriel Ramirez.
Fana Tesfagiorgis & Elijah Lancaster in “WILD: Act 1”, photo by Matthew Murphy.
WILD: Act 1 is co-commissioned by Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, CUNY Dance Initiative and the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, with additional support from New Music USA , Dance/NYC’s Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund & Dance Advancement Fund, Howard Gilman Foundation, and The Black Iris Project’s generous seed planters.
Elijah Lancaster in “WILD: Act 1”, photo by Matthew Murphy.
WILD: Act 1 will first premiere exclusively on BronxNet Television - the not-for-profit 501c3 television network for the people of the Bronx - beginning Monday, March 13th. The film will have its world premiere on Monday, March 15th though Sunday, April 4th via www.blackirisproject.org/wild.
Funding Credits
“WILD: Overture” is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
Major support for “WILD” has been provided by Open Society Foundations
“WILD: Act 1” is co-commissioned by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund
“WILD: Act I” is co-commissioned by the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) and the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, with support from The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, the SHS Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, and Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. CDI is produced by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College.
“WILD” is supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Helen F. Whitaker Fund, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Howard Gilman Foundation.
“WILD” is supported by Dance/NYC’s Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund & the Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation.
“WILD: Overture” was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
“WILD: Overture” was made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Bronx Council on the Arts.