Tag: Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Touch of Red reimagines male athletic competition as dance ‘A brief and silly thumb war shifts into another game that mixes aggression and affection: how close can you get to an embrace without touching? And finally, when contact can’t be avoided any longer, a rapid series of relationships results in the eros and humor in the…

‘With the recent conversation focusing on what “Black masculinity” looks like, it’s much more important to understand that it is a notion that can’t be boxxed into a singular idea. Traditionally, black masculinity has been associated with strength, power, and stoicism. However, this narrow definition of masculinity can be harmful and limiting. Instead, conversations that…

‘The movement remains virtuosic and unrelenting, which is what makes Pitts’ and Fredericks’ softness so radical. They accomplish breathtaking feats at all levels, and always return to each other.’ Read the full article here.

”In its churn of conversions—from violence to care, playfulness to vulnerability, and vulnerability to strength— “Touch of Red” unsettles and nudges us toward the future.’ Read the full article here

‘“I initially had such adverse reactions to the idea of boxing. Watching it on TV, I just couldn’t see the entertainment value of it. So instead of looking away, I started to look towards it. And when I did that, there were moments, I call them blurred moments, that I wasn’t sure if the two…

‘”With Touch of RED, I tried to create a space where we as Black men — and me as a Black queer man — get to be soft and have that be met with qualities of empowerment,” he says. “I’ve always felt like a bit of an outlier with my sensitivity, softness, and vulnerability. No…

‘Boxing is a major inspiration for Touch of RED. Shamel went from being confounded by the violent sport’s appeal, to exploring it as a metaphor for the layered, often unacknowledged connections between two Black men. In this case, two gay Black men. “Things I don’t understand I try to go further towards,” he says. “What…

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‘As founder and director of Tribe, a multidisciplinary arts collective, Pitts has created a trilogy of works built on Gaga, which is essentially a way of developing one’s unique way of moving. “Black Hole” is the third installment of the trilogy. Pitts describes it as a performance-art odyssey that includes movement, lighting, video projections, cinematography…