Rubadiri Victor

The Deering Estate Project was a collaboration with Miami choreographer Michelle Murray as her +one on her piece entitled 'UnRavelled' for the Deering Estate Art Festival in Miami on Sat 11th April. I contributed conceptual elements, costumes, new dance ideas, narratives, and slight choreographic shifts to enhance the phenomenal work of Ms Murray and her team of dancers. The piece consisted of 7 different on-site dances/performances/rituals set on different parts of the 444 acre historic estate. The 7-part piece interrogated the hidden and marginalised narratives in the public history of Deering Estate. The mainstream narrative is of white American industrialist Deering constructing this beautiful Nature Reserve resort-home- like a 20th century Prospero. "UnRavelled' foregrounds the stories of the Native American nations and Bahamian-African communities that pre-dated Deering and whose artisanry and labour constructed the Estate. It also investigates the stories of the women of Deering estate- his wife, daughters, and the older matriarchs. The story also investigates the other side of Deering- his criminal prohibition-era alcohol trading and possible secret society dealings... The piece culminates with a dance/ritual of Cleansing, of the exorcism of pained histories, and the equalising of all Stories...