Documentation footage of Let ‘im Move You: Intervention will be presented with an interactive conversation with the artists, moderated by b. Sabela grimes. Co-presented with Los Angeles Performance Practice / LAX Festival

Let ‘im Move You is a series of J-Sette inspired performance and visual works by artists jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham. J-Sette is an underground dance style popular in the gay African-American club scene in the South. The style originated from Jackson State University’s all-female majorette line (founded in the 1970s) and is characterized by a call-and-response format — one lead dancer initiates a series of high-energy dance moves and the other dancers join in the same movement.

Let ‘im Move You: Intervention is the third performance work created by poe and Beacham in the series. Intervention is a filmed dance intervention performed on sidewalks and in alleyways of predominantly and/or historically Black neighborhoods. The work challenges the predominance of white performance aesthetics and audiences within art institutions and the conundrum faced by the artists to perform work from the series within those institutions.

jumatatu m. poe jumatato m. poe is a choreographer, performer, and educator based in Philadelphia and New York City. He grew up dancing around the living room and at parties with family. Early exposure to concert dance was through African dance and capoeira performances on California college campuses where his parents studied and worked. Formal dance training began in college with Umfundalai, Kariamu Welsh’s contemporary African dance technique. His work continues to be influenced by various sources—including the foundations in those living rooms and parties; early technical training in contemporary African dance; continued study of contemporary dance and performance; and sociological research of and technical training in J-Setting with Donte Beacham. Poe is a producer of performance work with idiosynCrazy productions, founded in 2008 and co-directed with Shannon Murphy. Poe has danced with Marianela Boán, Silvana Cardell, Emmanuelle Hunyh, Tania Isaac, Kun- Yang Lin, C. Kemal Nance, Marissa Perel, Leah Stein, Keith Thompson, Kate Watson-Wallace, Reggie Wilson, and Kariamu Welsh (as a member of Kariamu & Company) and collaborated in performance with Merián Soto.

Jermone “Donte” Beacham Jermone “Donte” Beacham began his dance career with Hip Hop in high school. He was first introduced to the world of J-Sette by women. J-Sette historically refers to Jackson State University’s female drill team created in the 1970s. Seeing the dance style performed by men catalyzed an interest in it for his own body. He has served as co-captain of Dallas’ Texas Teasers; competed in many events and competitions including 2 SetteItOff video challenges; Atlanta Pride 2010; Tennessee Classics 2009; and Memphis Pride 2008. In 2015, Beacham was named New Legendary by the Meet Me on the Dance Floor J-Sette council. Beacham oversees Mystic Force, his own J-Sette line, and promotes the knowledge and understanding of the dance nationally and internationally.

d. Sabela grimes d. Sabela grimes is a trans-media storyteller, sonic ARKivist, movement composer cultivating a devoted interest in Afrobiquitous life practices. grimes has conceived, written, scored, choreographed, and produced several dance theater works including BulletProof Deli, plus Philly XP, World War WhatEver, and 40 Acres & A Microchip: Salvation or Servitude from his EXPERIMENT EARTH sound-movement triptych. Recent creative projects include, ELECTROGYNOUS (2017) and Dark Matter Messages (2018). ELECTROGYNOUS is a dance theater experience which articulates that Black gender qualities are infinite, multi-dimensional and distinct manifestations of wombniversal consciousness. Dark Matter Messages is a collection of live poetry, video projections and music interwoven with improvisational movement meditations that realize AfroFuturism as a means to play within the nowness of impending futures. As a faculty member at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, grimes continues to cultivate Funkamental MediKinetics, a movement system he created that focuses on the methodical dance training and community building elements evident in Hip Hop, Black vernacular and Street dance forms. He is an LA County Performing Arts Fellow (2017) and United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow (2014).

Los Angeles Performance Practice is a non-profit organization devoted to the production and presentation of contemporary performance by artists whose work advances and challenges multi-disciplinary artistic practices. The annual LAX Festival serves as a highly visible platform that supports hundreds of local artists annually. With performances and events geographically focused in and around Downtown L.A., the Festival program hosts ten days of contemporary performances by L.A.-based artists. Additionally, the Festival focuses on an exchange platform with a specific city, engaging artists, curators and organizations in performance presentations, dialogues and artist-to-artist interactions, cultivating mutual inquiry and long-term network development. The 2018 LAX Festival is built on an exchange with artists, curators, and organizations in Philadelphia.