Untold Secrets of the Heart Chamber

Untold Secrets of the Heart Chamber
by
GREGORY VUYANI MAQOMA and MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH

Building upon their partnership over the past few years and with a desire to work together to support artists and their creativity during this extraordinary moment in time, The American Dance Festival (ADF) and DANCECleveland have commissioned a new dance film by South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma and poet, arts activist, and educator Marc Bamuthi Joseph.The screening will be followed by a conversation with the artists moderated by Gina Belafonte and Jefferson Tshabalala.

"Untold Secrets of the Heart Chamber" is a trans-Atlantic, pandemic-backdropped missive between almost strangers. Gregory Maqoma and Marc Bamuthi Joseph met in the fall of 2020 to begin discussing the matter of Black life as filtered through 25 years of South African democracy and one particularly hot summer on the American racial timeline. The result is a piece that connects these world-scaled events to the intimacy of the artists' respective homes and sanctuary spaces. Untold Secrets of the Heart Chamber is an 18-minute long dance film/live performance shot on two continents in the time of COVID-19. Edited by David Szlasa and performed by Maqoma and Joseph, the work ponders democracy, what grandmothers leave behind, and the safety extended from Black fathers to their sons.