Princeton Arts Fellow Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez and students in his fall course, “Introduction to Vortex: A Sacred Dance Practice,” excavated memory through psychospiritual embodiment to experience collective trance, community and empowerment in their culminating class performance entitled The Circle or Prophetic Dream.
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
Photo by Felicity Audet
The performance on December 5, 2023, in the Hearst Dance Theater demonstrated Núñez’ ongoing anthropological research on how the body and sound inhabit social space as new forms of nomadism. Audio description and ASL interpretation services were provided at the event.
Núñez and sound designer Alfonso Castro developed an acoustic practice that regenerates the cells of the dancers; particularly Black, indigenous, disabled, and immigrant dancers who carry intergenerational fatigue. Set and costume designer Branden Charles Wallace took inspiration from the circle as a cultural, ancestral, and mystical symbol that has captivated the human imagination through time.
