Dress Rehearsal
2020
Single-channel video with sound
30 minutes
This live performance documents the brothers of the Society of 23 rehearsing one of their ritual ceremony dances. As part of my artistic practice, I have created a fictional brotherhood known as the Society of 23 — a mysterious group of 23 men where I perform the role of each character. Through a variety of media, I have created a complex non-linear narrative of bros doing things.
In 2018, I created a series of chalk-pastel drawings on paper titled choreography playbook. This series of drawings depicted the sequence of movements for an unknown brotherhood dance in a notation style that looked like a mashup of dance choreography and football plays. In Dress Rehearsal, the brothers rehearse these movements.
Additionally, the rehearsal is performed by miniature paper figures of the brothers in their ritual robes. Like Alexander Calder activating the tiny sculptures of his circus in the 1955 film Le Grand Cirque Calder 1927, I activate my tiny performers. Here, the camera acts as a fly on the wall that reveals and exposes the private dress rehearsal of the brothers complete with frequent stops, resets, and critical feedback from a voice pushing for a stronger and better performance.