SNAKEHIPS IN OUr dna

snakehips in our dna:
prequel affirmation #1
(Renaissance to premanence)

Conceived and Directed by Talvin Wilks in collaboration with LaJuné McMillian
Original Score by Dreamwolf Productions
Commissioned by Apollo Theater
Produced by SOZO

Snakehips In Our DNA is a video installation, commissioned by The Apollo Theater on the occasion of the opening of The Apollo’s Victoria Theater, honoring the influence and impact of legendary Harlem Renaissance dancer Earl “Snakehips” Tucker, from then to now. Conceived by director/dramaturg Talvin Wilks in collaboration with new media artist LaJuné McMillian, the work is a choreographic media collage of animation and interviews, with several generations of dancers responding to the soul & spirit of Snakehips. Produced by SOZO, with original music score by Dominique Luis, sound design by Kwamina “Binnie” Biney of DreamWolf Projects and co-commissioning support provided by Jacob’s Pillow, Snakehips In Our DNA is a tribute and timely meditation on the Harlem Renaissance’s permanence in our contemporary culture today.

NYT Feature | "Overlooked No More: Earl Tucker, a Dancer Known as ‘Snakehips’"

Movement and Interviews by:
Michela Marino Lerman
Rocka Jamez
Chanon Judson
Mickey Davidson
Maleek Washington
Bernard Dove
Roobi Gaskins
Drew Dollaz

ABOUT TALVIN WILKS

Talvin Wilks is a playwright, director and dramaturg based in Minneapolis and New York City. His plays include Tod, the boy, Tod, The Trial of Uncle S&M, Bread of Heaven, An American Triptych, Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing, and As I Remember It with Carmen de Lavallade. He is a co-writer/co-director for Ping Chong’s ongoing series of Undesirable Elements and Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America, and a member of the Ping Chong + Co. Artistic Leadership Team. Directing Credits: The White Card, This Bitter Earth, Benevolence, The Ballad of Emmett Till (Penumbra Theatre), The Peculiar Patriot (National Black Theatre/Woolly Mammoth), Parks (History Theatre), Cannabis: A Viper Vaudeville (HERE Arts/La Mama), Locomotion (Children’s Theatre Company) and The Till Trilogy (Mosaic Theatre). Dramaturgy Credits: for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enough (2022 Broadway Revival), Dreaming Zenzile (New York Theatre Workshop/National Black Theatre), An American Tail (Children’s Theatre Company), Between the World and Me (The Apollo), Scat!, Walkin’ with ‘Trane, Haint Blu (Urban Bush Women), ink, Black Girl: Linguistic Play, Mr. TOL E. RanCE (Camille A. Brown and Dancers), In a Rhythm, A History, Necessary Beauty, Landing-Place, Verge (Bebe Miller Company), Radicals in Miniature, Relics and Their Humans (Ain Gordon/Pick Up Performance Co.). He is an Associate Professor in the Theatre Arts and Dance Department, University of Minnesota/Twin Cities and is a 2020 McKnight Theater Artist Fellow and a 2022 McKnight Presidential Fellow. He was a researcher/co-curator/dramaturg for the Sekou Sundiata Retrospective, Blink Your Eyes, the Aunt Ester Cycle at the August Wilson Center, and continues research on the ongoing book project, Testament: 40 Years of Black Theatre History in the Making, 1964-2004.

ABOUT LAJUNÉ MCMILLIAN

LaJuné McMillian is a Multidisciplinary Artist, and Educator creating art that integrates performance, extended reality, and physical computing to question our contemporary forms of communication. They are passionate about discovering, learning, manifesting, and stewarding spaces for liberated Black Realities and the Black Imagination. LaJuné has had the opportunity to show and speak about their work at National Sawdust, Tribeca Film Festival, Times Square, and Art & Code's Weird Reality. LaJuné was previously the Director of Skating at Figure Skating in Harlem, where they integrated STEAM and Figure Skating to teach girls of color about movement and technology. They have continued their research on Blackness, movement, and technology during residencies and fellowships at the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Eyebeam, Pioneer Works, NYU ITP,  Barbarian Group, and Barnard College.