Niv Acosta is a performance artist who explores American black masculinity. He has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the sixth work in the denzel series which explores black masculine identity in performance from a queer trans-masculine perspective.
“A culmination of almost 4 years of work on “the denzel series,” i shot denzel is the sixth and potentially final work in the series–a solo where I am joined onstage by nine musicians and singers. ‘denzel’ has represented black masculine identity in performance, as seen from my perspective as a queer trans-masculine identified young black person. I’m working with many ideas that continue to interest me such as death, grieving through sound experiences, original philosophical text, voguing, and fear. Exploring these avenues in my work has been educational in terms of answering larger questions for myself; ‘how do I navigate being transgender in dance? Identifying as black in dance? Identifying as queer in dance? And not always be defiant or “challenging”’? I am interested in creating space and visibility for myself and others who identify similarly. The topics that remain challenged in i shot denzel are normativity, complacency, and impossibility.”
– Niv Acosta
The World Premiere of this work will take place at New York Live Arts in Manhattan this January 30th – February 1st.
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