Too soon to discover planets, too late to discover islands is an evening-length tap dance-theater work in which six dancers and three musicians invite the audience into a world of myth, history, and transformation. Inspired by Indigenous and colonial histories in Puerto Rico, the work tells the story of an island, the people who arrive there, and the ruptures and reveries that follow. The work incorporates original music, mask-work, physical storytelling, and improvisation. At its heart is the embodied rhythm of tap dance, a Black American art form that holds deep meanings of resistance and connection across generations and geographies. This work is an imagining of futures with the materials of the past, using embodied rhythm and masks to create a journey and a ritual.
Waihona Kino (Body Archive) is a new solo dance theater work, featuring Peter Rockford Espiritu (Tau) created with theater director Roberta Uno, and visual artist, Marques Hanalei Marzan. At 63, Tau is still performing his vast body archive anchored in Native Hawaiian and Pacific aesthetics in conversation with western dance influences. Mining this corporeal archive, Waihona Kino connects the continuum of time, honoring master teachers carried in his body while centering Indigenous consciousness. The piece is grounded by the designs of master fiber artist Marques Hanalei Marzan, producing a piece that is tourable to theater or visual arts spaces.
Caretakers of Land/Land Acknowledgement: Lenape
Estimated Artist Fee:
Single Performance: $25,000
Weekly Residency: $40,000
