TOUCH OF RED

The “RED Series” continues Shamel Pitts research to propose and share the colorfulness within blackness. “I have met a multitude of performers from various countries of the African diaspora and this has widened my understanding as to the diversity of black people as well as formed my realization that we find home through a shared platform” – Shamel Pitts

Touch of RED is a multidisciplinary performance duet inspired from the rapid-fire footwork of boxing, the African-American jazz dance style Lindy Hop, Gaga movement language and Nightlife culture. Set in a stylized ring, designed by the MacArthur Fellow Mimi Lien, this dance duet examines the way Black men are perceived and perceive themselves in contemporary society and how masculinity and vulnerability can be reconsidered and reconciled in a non-combative, compassionate, and healing way.

Bold. Boiled. Blood.

Work Description: (PDF)

Artistic Team

Concept Direction & Choreographer: Shamel Pitts

Performers: Tushrik Fredericks & Shamel Pitts

Artistic Production Manager & Lighting Designer: Rus Snelling

Video Light & Mapping Designer: Lucca Del Carlo

Scenic Design: Mimi Lien

Costume Designer: Dion Lee

Costume Stylists: TT Britt & Tushrik Fredericks

Shoe Apparel: Fulton Cobbler (Brooklyn, NY) – customized “gloves”

Original Musical Score: Sivan Jacobovitz

Additional Music: Ben Frost – A Single Point of Blinding Light Burial – Forgive

Dramaturge: Ashley Pierre-Louis

Lindy Hop Instructor: LaTasha Barnes

Cinematographer: Taylor Antisdel

Photographers & Cinematographers: The Adeboyé Brothers

Stage Manager: Kaz Russell, Chanel Pinnock

Lighting Associate: Domino Mannheim

Creative Director: Mirelle Martins

Artistic Administrator: E Katrina Lewis

Managing Director: Brittany Wilson

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

Touch of RED: RECOLLECTION – The Film

Touch of RED: RECOLLECTION is an ethereal dance documentary following MacArthur fellow Shamel Pitts, as he embarks on a storied journey of discovery through multiple art residencies with members of his Brooklyn-based arts collective TRIBE. The documentary directed by Taylor Antisdel weaves together the threads of memory and experience as we witness Shamel creating his latest live work, Touch of RED.

"Since leaving Batsheva Dance Company, choreographer Shamel Pitts has been provoking audiences with multidisciplinary dance works that push against the boundaries of identity."

Candice Thompson

DANCE Magazine

"So often I felt like my vulnerability and sensitivity and fragility was a weakness. But I wish to share with people, particularly other Black boys and men, that there is power within vulnerability."

Shamel Pitts

DANCE Magazine

"Touch of RED project is collaborative all the way through: from the process at TRIBE, which Shamel, 36, founded as a multidisciplinary group of BIPOC artists where each member is a valued co-creator."

Jordan Levi

Miami Light Project

Funding Credits

Touch of RED is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation, Development & Artist Engagement Fund Project co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow, YoungArts, Miami Light Project, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, New York Live Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. For more information, visit www.npnweb.org. Touch of RED is also made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Developmental support and the world premiere presentation is made possible by co-presenters Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and Jacob’s Pillow. Developed with residency support from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

First three performance photos (MASS MoCA co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow) by: The Adeboyé Brothers
Dave Adeboyé & Matt Adeboyé

Promotional photos (color) by: Alex Apt

Rehearsal photos (black & white) by: Elvis Suarez – Glassworks Media