Choreographer Jeremy McQueen’s Ballet & Dance Film ‘Wild’ Now Showing On BronxNet
Currently playing exclusively on BronxNet Television to the Bronx community is celebrated Emmy-nominated choreographer Jeremy McQueen’s groundbreaking new ballet and feature length dance film entitled “WILD.” The film is being presented under his Black Iris Project, the only ballet collaborative of its kind in the country dedicated to telling stories about the Black experience and to providing a platform and safe haven for Black artists. With social justice issues dominating the current national conversation, “WILD” explores systemic racism and injustice through the real-life accounts of New York City youth who have grown up in juvenile detention centers throughout the City. The ballet will be broken up into four parts with the first part being “Overture.” The additional parts of “WILD” will debut in Winter/Spring/Summer, 2021.
Inspired by Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s novel Where the Wild Things Are, “WILD” follows the journey of several young men as they struggle to break free from the systemic injustices that permeate Black and Brown communities. Using physical movement to illustrate and honor the history of Black bodies moving through space while encountering oppression, this cutting-edge contemporary ballet will incorporate poetry, reflective journal entries, visual art, and original music, transforming the young men’s personal stories into an artistic dance work intended to be a reclaiming of time, unity, space, and Black culture.
Additionally, McQueen - in collaboration with various juvenile justice organizations including Exalt - will work with both currently and previously incarcerated young men throughout New York City over the course of the next year to create a series of virtual workshops, harnessing their creativity and providing opportunities to creatively express themselves through artistic mediums and will be performed by a number of professional male dancers.
Filmed and edited by ongoing Black Iris Project collaborator Colton Williams, “Overture” features dancers Shawn Lesniak (Paul Taylor Dance Company), AJ Libert (Sidra Bell Dance New York), DaMond Garner (Parson Dance Company). With an original score composed by internationally acclaimed singer/ songwriter Morgxn and Jazz composer and bassist Amina Scott , the music for “WILD: Overture“ is presented in a mixtape- like format and includes additional contributions from: hip hop artists Wes Period & Shmuck the Loyal; actor & former Hamilton cast member Phillip Johnson Richardson (Phil.), popular singer/songwriter Josh Dean with original poetry by emerging New York City poet Gabriel Ramirez.
McQueen, who was recently named a 2020/2021 of the Soros Justice Fellowship from Open Society Foundations and is the only choreographer to receive this fellowship since its inception in 1997, hopes that “WILD” will encourage and inspire youth of color to pursue the arts, movement and music as an expressive outlet as well as educate audiences about how Black history relates to the modern Black journey.