SEED LANGUAGE: A NEW IDENTITY is a multi-disciplinary street dance and documentary theater production that explores unseen histories of the war on black and brown bodies, and how it shows up today, especially as enacted through language. Through documentary theater Destiny youth embody vital voices of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Black Panther Party and the hip hop movement to the center of a timely conversation about unity, hip-hop feminism, action, and strength.
The documentary theater segments of the show highlight parts of interviews that were conducted by youth and adult company members with formidable artists, activists and elders who have shaped and are shaping the conversation about race, privilege, power and the possibility for healing in provocative times – folks such as Alicia Garza, the mother of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ericka Huggins, an educator and member of the Black Panther Party, filmmaker Shakti Butler, anti-racism writer Tim Wise, and hip hop dance legend Rennie Harris. The interviews are embodied by the youth performers, who humanize and re-contextualize stories marginalized by mainstream cultural norms and language.
From the East Bay Express: "Often the emotions [expressed in this performance] are gut-wrenchingly painful, but Seed Language refuses to leave its audience in sorrow. The finale is a series of seven ecstatic, joyful dances... After coming through the production's difficult passages, the exuberant ending feels like a rush of hope.
[Destiny Founder Sarah] Crowell echoed this sentiment. "True change, on a personal level and on a social level, only happens when we're willing to look at the hard truth," she said. "Dance provides a vehicle for both going into the hard places and absolutely coming out of them."
Discussion Questions:
- Have you seen a Destiny show before?
- If so, what were your general thoughts and feelings about the show(s)?
- If not, what are you expecting?
- What communities are you a part of?
- (family, school, neighborhood, faith communities etc.)
- What do you love about your communities?
- What is challenging for you in and about your communities?
- How does race "play out" in your communities?
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