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By Miranda Stuck
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Published on November 6, 2024
Photo: David Plakke
Concept/Direction: Imani Gaudin & Jakob Vitale
Performers: Imani Gaudin, Marcus Sarjeant, Jakob Vitale
Set Construction: Louis James Woodworks, Jakob Vitale
Set Design, Sound-score, Costume Design: Imani Gaudin & Jakob Vitale
Photography: David Plakke Media
Date: October 3, 2024
On a warm Thursday afternoon a group of spectators flood into the Bella Abzug Park at Hudson Yards. There, in between the park’s fountains, they are greeted by visual artist Jakob Vitale’s tall, wooden cityscape mural. Booming music vibrates near his painting playground. As people continue to pour in, Vitale mixes colors in his palette, gearing up to begin a three-hour painting session as part of the performance jakob & Imani. Co-created with choreographer Imani Gaudin, jakob & Imani explores the dynamic relationship between contemporary dance forms and graffiti art in a two-chapter (three hours per chapter) event.
jakob & Imani, originally created in the Spring of 2024 while both artists were in residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center, was commissioned by BAC and the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance. “Imani and I appreciated each other’s disciplines from a distance,” says Vitale. “It was only a matter of time… for us to realize the collaborative potential we’ve never considered.”
During the first hour of jakob & imani there is an initial feeling of confusion. How long will Vitale paint? How long will Gaudin dance? Will their work occur simultaneously? How will they interact? Some wonder how the dancers will make use of the lengthy three hours. Suddenly, the crowd flocks past Vitale’s mural towards Gaudin and dancer Marcus Sarjeant standing, planted in the fountains opposite to each other. The dancers calmly rotate their bodies with their hands behind their backs avoiding eye contact with any one person. As their adagio continues, they stretch their arms, chests, and necks, their bodies synchronously expanding in the water. While some of us are intent on the performance, in this busy office district, bystanders meander and mingle on coffee or lunch breaks, completely oblivious to the dancers next to them.
When the dancers move directly behind the mural, chaos ensues. In a traveling improvisation, they toss and stack large wooden building blocks amid random articles of painted clothing, paint bottles, and a blonde wig on the ground. The sight is unusual; the dancers cause disarray to the objects surrounding them as Vitale strokes his canvas quite calmly. Sarjeant’s use of extreme counterbalance is impressive, and at times, nerve-wracking. Managing to balance on one leg or knee on five stacked blocks, he fearlessly throws off his center of gravity and catches himself just- in-time before falling. The audience can’t help but stare at his ankles, which trustfully continue to hold his body in extreme, elongated positions.
The first half of jakob & imani, although a collaboration by title, feels physically divided. The dancers remain behind Vitale’s mural, forcing the audience to choose a side depending on which artist they want to spend time watching. Towards the end of the second hour, streaks of sunlight pierce Jakob’s painting, accentuating vivid blue, black and browns. When the dancers finally creep around the wooden structure to dance near Vitale, we begin to feel the start of a conversation. Imani, perching on a stack of blocks, weaves between pauses and fluid movement, at times mimicking a paintbrush herself. When the dancers move symbiotically with Vitale’s paintbrush, there’s a spark in energy between the collaborators. Imani and Sarjeant wrap and swing around each other, producing their own version of curves, lines, and spirals. “I realized,” says Vitale, “that in painting large scale projects, I would move along the edge of my two-dimensional canvas with the efficiency of a dancer.”
Spectators’ interest continues to increase with audience interaction. Sarjeant hands a woman a set of gloves and foot covers, inviting her to begin painting on one of the wooden blocks. Suddenly, she is an additional part of the collaboration, happily painting in blue on a wooden block. Beyond an artistic collaboration, jakob & imani work is an invitation to New Yorkers to make visual and performance part of their work day.
