BLACK VELVET
TRIBE presents the 10th-anniversary celebration of BLACK VELVET, the award-winning live performance created by Shamel Pitts.
BLACK VELVET is a dovetailing of texture, beauty, delicacy, and power within “a poetics of being” (Kevin Quashie). A deeply reflective performance, it explores the colorfulness of Blackness—especially in regard to Black women—through a relationship of camaraderie, consolation, and compassion.
Originally premiering on November 11, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, BLACK VELVET toured internationally across nine countries between 2017 and 2020. This transformative tour served as the foundational blueprint for TRIBE, the multidisciplinary performing arts collective founded by Pitts in 2019.
BLACK VELVET will remount Fall of 2026 in residency at PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance. A 10th-anniversary re-premiere performance run will take place in New York City at The Flea Theater on November 19-21 2026. The work will be available for touring in Spring 2027.
“BLACK VELVET is a texture of material. The title has to do with a nuanced research and sharing of the qualities between the two performers as well as the relationship to the viewer. BLACK VELVET can be a very soft and delicate material but also extremely powerful due to its ability to absorb light and reflect very little back … I created a world in BLACK VELVET where we can both exist and thrive as we take care of each other. The lines between masculinity, femininity, love, color, sex all seem to blur. We take care of each other and there becomes enough room for both of us to be … and this creates the oneness of our relationality and co-existence.”
—Shamel Pitts | Milk.xyz
Artistic Team
Founding Artistic Director, Concept Direction & Choreographer: Shamel Pitts
Performers: Channce Williams, Ke’ron J. Wilson
Artistic Production Manager: Sarai Frazier
Video Light & Mapping Designer: Lucca Del Carlo
Costume Designer: Errin Shin, David Gap
Audio: Ed Côrtes
Graphic Design: Idan Epshtein
Photographer & Videographer: Itai Zwecker
Artistic Administrator: E Katrina Lewis
Managing Director: Seta Morton
Development Director: Eric Umble
Digital Creative & Development Associate: Pam Panozzo
Press Agent: Kamila Slawinski
Worldwide Bookings: Lotus Arts Management, Sophie Myrtil-McCourty, sophie@lotusartsmgmt.com
Awards
Best Out of Town Production by ArtsATL, 2018
Audience Choice Award at the Stockholm Fringe Festival, 2017
Double-Prize at Machol Shalem Dance Festival, 2017
PRESS & MEDIA
“A haunting duet.” —Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
“A rich and complex work. ★★★★★” —Carrie O’Dell, Reviews Hub
“A beautiful work of art as it is a dance performance. Both lush and sparse at the same time—visually, sonically, and emotionally.” —Quinn Batson, OFFOFFOFF
FUNDING & CREDITS
BLACK VELVET 10th Anniversary Re-Premiere is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, SHS Foundation, The Harkness Foundation For Dance, Arison Arts Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York Community Trust, TRIBE’s individual donors, and our Board of Directors. To view TRIBE’s complete list of supporters visit itsatribe.org/support.
This project has been supported by a developmental residency from PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance and Performance Space New York.
BLACK VELVET premiere in 2016 in São Paulo was made possible with the commissioning, production, performance, and creative direction support of Mirelle Martins, with the collaboration of Lucca Del Carlo, Mauricio Pisani, Raoni Maddalena, Anna Zêpa, Robson Simon, Carolina Garcia Marques, and the support of São Paulo Dance Company (SPCD), Escola de Dança de São Paulo, Teatro Sergio Cardoso, Liliane de Grammont, Susana Yamaguchi, and Carolina Amares.
International Tour from 2017-2020 Artistic Team includes Naomi Maaravi, Derek Van Heel, and Elizabeth Schmuhl.