LIVE PERFORMANCE
Photos by Fadi Kheir from Carnegie Hall World Premiere.
THE JUST AND THE BLIND - The Live Performance
Commissioned by Carnegie Hall
Conceived and written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Original musical score by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)
Directed by Michael John Garcés
Collaborators for the Carnegie Hall Premiere:
Drew Dollaz, Dancer
David Szlasa, Projection & Lighting Designer
Xia Gordon, Animator
Brittsense, Photographer
Yoram Savion & Benjamin Tarquin, Filmmakers
Produced by SOZO
Rika Iino, Producer
Melissa Higgins, Producer Emeritus
Dana Greenfield, Curriculum Coordinator
Annie March, Production Manager
Longtime collaborators spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain have created The Just and The Blind under the direction of Michael John Garcés, commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Framed by visually striking photography and animation projections, the multimedia work explores racial profiling and the prison-industrial complex in a series of short vignettes that include music, dance, and spoken word, woven together by media designer David Szlasa with the provocative images of photographer Brittsense, the visual talent of Xia Gordon, filmmakers Yoram Savion and Benjamin Tarquin, and interviews with Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY).
““But it was the raw, cry from the soul new work, ‘The Just and the Blind,’ that has stayed with me from my marathon... The work is driven by Mr. Joseph’s stinging, brilliant words and is structured as a series of vignettes. Mr. Joseph voices the thoughts of a black father who admits to being afraid when, at night, he walks past young black men who look the same age as his son. Every day, he tells his son, the boy’s main mission in life is ‘to come home to me.’ … Is this classical music? Perhaps not by traditional definitions. But it speaks to where Carnegie has come that it fit in at the hall just as well as the Vienna Philharmonic.””
““... an experience brimming with vitality. Joseph’s powerful poetry and Roumain’s original instrumental music formed the core, but the program also starred song, street dance, visual art, and a talk back with the audience to unpack it all afterward.””
““ ‘The Just and the Blind’ creates a moving, nuanced portrait of the Black experience in America... the performance is a timely piece perfectly situated within modern contexts of racial reckoning in America... it reminds us that art is not marginal, but rather central to, resistance against all forms of oppression. It is a way of processing emotions and experiences as much as it is a way of building solidarity and creating beautiful things among pain and fear and marginality. A true labor of love from all those involved, “The Just and the Blind” achieves all of these things and more, leaving a lasting artistic and thematic impression on anyone who had the honor to watch.””
Aug 2, 2024
The Ford
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Modlin Center for the Arts
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Texas A&M Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts
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USC Visions and Voices
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Holland Festival
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SFJAZZ
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Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth
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The Kennedy Center
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Carnegie Hall
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The Just and the Blind was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and presented as part of the 2019 Create Justice Forum. The Just and the Blind was produced by SOZO with support from Ford Foundation. Special thanks to Miami Light Project and InMaat Foundation.