Trajal Harrell and ten dancers were rehearsing the final part of Trajal Harrell’s trilogy Porca Miseria for three weeks when the first lockdown of March 2020 brought events to an abrupt halt. Exactly two years later, Deathbed will celebrate its premiere in Zurich. In his highly acclaimed choreographic work, Harrell explores alternative readings of dance history by juxtaposing American early postmodern dance with other modes of performativity, including performative strategies borrowed from the Voguing competitions at the Harlem Ballrooms, for instance, and from the fashion catwalk. In his latest piece, Harrell brings together his memory of Katherine Dunham and the aesthetic relationship to death and ritual characteristic of butoh. African-American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham, renowned for creating a space for African and Caribbean dance traditions and ritual on the concert dance stage, travelled the world with her own dance company in the 1940s and 50s. However, she was also an activist who went on a hunger strike against the deportation from the United States of Haitian refugees and who fought fervently for equal rights in her own country.
In addition to Deathbed and the performance Dancer of the Year, the installation Dancer of The Year Shop #4 is also part of Harrell's exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich. It is accessible during the opening hours of the Kunsthalle and is activated from 2-5.30pm each day.
