Ann English Mazzocca Bellecci

“Waters Wisdoms: Honoring and Reclaiming Indigenous and Ancestral Practices in the Face of Climate Disaster” is a dance-based experimental film centering indigenous American and Africanist embodied epistemologies in contrast to the current climate crisis.

This dance video project, initially commissioned by the Art(S)cience Festival Artistic Director, Prof. Denise Gillman at Christopher Newport University, explores sea level rise through the art of dance and the specificity of our local/regional location of the Chesapeake Bay and James/Powhatan River. These movement practices and philosophies, which embrace, respect, and reflect nature, are centered and placed in relation to our local/global history of settler colonialism and damaging ethnocentric and racist practices that have led not only to violence against people but abuse of our lands/seas.

The screendance features CNU alumnae, Kayla Jewette/Iyanifa Faremilekun Oosaseun Ajeosun and Krystal Hurr, who perform and share their perspectives. Art and Film Studies student Henry Engelmeyer received Office of Research and Creative Activity support to serve as director of photography, videographer, and co-editor. The film features Chief Awosanmi Sekou Alaje on batá and Jeru Joobie Brinkley's original score for the film, "Mni Wiconi," translated from Lakotiyapi as "Water is Life."

The film has been published as part of the Black Theatre Review, vol. 2 issue 2 (2024) on Environmentalism, Omiyemi Green editor-in-chief, and can be found here. Watch trailer here.

“Tributaries” is a current project that I am involved in with long time collaborators Dasha Chapman, Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, and Phil Rodriguez. Our work began in Bulbancha/New Orleans as we movers, musician, and Vodou houngan came together in a residency on a protected native forest refuge on the outskirts of the city along the Mississippi River (A Studio in the Woods). Calling ourselves the Tè Glise Collective based on the Haitian Kreyòl/Creole phrase meaning sliding land – a precarity referencing both natural and social ecologies – we immersed ourselves in local environmental and cultural history, contemplating the cartography of the sliding land of New Orleans itself, its levee system, and the historical dis/placement of peoples (to know more, see my Tè Glise page).

Engaging the multiple meanings of "tributaries," we trace riverine remembrances and cultural movements along three active waterways – the Mississippi, the Kwinitekw/Connecticut, and the Powhatan/James. In our individual movement explorations at the banks of our local rivers, we pause and unfurl toward those who traversed the waters and those who stewarded the lands. We move towards and at the waters’ edges with care. We listen and feel into our own migratory histories, and our differential racial and settler debts yet to be paid. With this project, we begin to offer tribute to the teachers, culture workers, inhabitants, and ancestors who came before us and crafted the movement practices and technologies we engage.

Drawing forward Haiti|Vodou, Kongo African, and New Orleans connections of cultural vitality and ecological precarity, “Tributaries” continues to investigate the rooted/routed nature of cultural practices, their relationship to social and natural ecologies, to the land, its waters, our racial and cultural bodies, and emplacements.

“Tributaries” has been presented at Dance Studies Association annual conference, Galvanazing Dance Studies: Building Antiracist Praxis,Transformative Connections, and Movements of Radical Care and at the American Society for Theater Research (ASTR) conference.

Dance of the Orcas is an evening-length choreoritual conceived, written, and directed by Omiyemi Artisia Green, which I choreographed. Originally performed live as part of the annual Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) conference at William and Mary in November 2019, the piece developed into a film during the pandemic and screened as part of William and Mary’s theater season in collaboration with TheaterCNU. This screen adaptation was filmed at Buckroe Beach with photography direction by K. Michael O’Neil and co-directed with Roy Peterson. Costumes by Sarah Conte.

Dance of the Orcas is inspired by the orca J35/Tahlequah, who mourned her dead calf for 17 days as she carried her on her crown through the sea before she let her fall to the depths. The piece focuses on trauma and healing with support from African healing and spiritual knowledges such as the Yoruba orishas, listening to and venerating our ancestors, connecting to nature, and community. The piece includes spoken text, dance, song, music, wind, water, earth, sky.

The images below include stills from the film (all rights reserved). CNU students involved include dancers Tamiyah McClary as Yemayá (blue), Taylor Hayes as Oyá (red), and Kiana Green, Meagan Morrison (as masked ancestors and orcas), and Bryson Olivo as orca (black and white). Audrey Bucknor as Tahlequah, student from William and Mary.

Dance of the Orcas has been screened as part of film festivals and conferences including Richmond’s Afrikana Independent Film Festival, the Ampersand International Film Festival, and as part of the African and Diaspora Religious Studies Association annual conference. Here is the trailer.

Cultivated by Dasha Chapman, Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, Ann Mazzocca, and Phil Rodriguez, in collaboration with New Orleans-based artists Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes and Damas “FanFan” Louis. The work developed in residency at A Studio in the Woods in New Orleans.

Tè glise, tè tremble. Sliding land, sinking land. This collaborative community-based performance project puts into conversation the artists’ Haitian and broader African diaspora performance knowledges with New Orleans ecologies, with the intention of excavating the cultural survivals integral to both. Developed in relation to archival research, community engagement workshops, ethnographic and site-specific inquiry, the work explores the relationship between Haiti | Vodou and New Orleans cultural vitality as it relates to ecological precarity. The artists hope to contribute a contemporary Haitian perspective through this work, and the project’s long-term nature is process-oriented, shared in multiple iterations.

Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, Yonel Charles, Dasha Chapman and I, with accompaniment by James Savoy, developed and performed a site-specific performance in the central square of Jérémie, the capital of the Grand’Anse province in Haiti. Coincidentally our performance occurred the day white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017, and confederate monuments entered into national debate. My collaborators and I were performing our own response to public statues in the town square in Jérémie. The public plaza's monuments celebrate French and mixed-race identity and efface the Black revolutionary past. Through dance, song, text and music, this collaboration between three Haitians and two Americans directly engaged with and activated the racialized ideologies and submerged histories signified by the statues.

This performance choreographed and directed by Ann Mazzocca incorporated the Chrysler Museum's Edward Burtynsky: Water exhibition and my experiences within Afro-Caribbean folkloric traditions and communities in the United States, Haiti, and Cuba.

The theme of water plays a central role in Haitian and Afro-Cuban folklore and religious traditions – from the wave-like movements of Yanvalou within the danced religion of Vodou to the Cuban Yoruba orishas Ochún and Yemayá, divinities of the river and ocean embodying different qualities of femininity. Outside of ritual and performance contexts, experiences in rural and urban Haiti exposed me to the labor and intimacy involved in gathering water for everyday use such as bathing and cooking.

The performance took place in three locations within and outside of the museum. First, an offering to the waters occurred waterside in front of the museum. After everyone offered their flowers in to the water, we moved inside the museum to Huber Court, where the dancers ritually bathed and performed Haitian Yanvalou with the drummers followed by a choreography to Ibeyi's "River." The performers then moved into the gallery with the Burtynsky photographs to respond to the various works within his series including Control, Distress, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Waterfront, and Source.

Dancers:  Victoria Banks, Mila Carr, Camille Carson, Darcy Davidson, Eliza Eaton, Kayla Jewette, Ann Mazzocca, Ifé Michelle, John Pickard, Marie Villamil, Vee Waymer, and Madeline Wheeler.

Percussionists: Dale Paul Lazar, Orimolade Ogunjimi, Rodolphe "Neg Mawon" Pierre.

Aktivasyon Imaginasyon nou nan Petwo/ Activating Petwo's Kinesthetic Imagination was a collaborative piece created as part of the 4th Ghetto Biennale in the Gran Rue section of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, December 2015. This piece was originally conceived by Dasha Chapman, US-based scholar and dancer, and then developed and made in collaboration with Haitian choreographer/dancer Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire from Abricots, Haiti, choreographer/dancer/LGBTQIA+ activist Yonel Charles based in Jacmel, Haiti, Dasha, and myself.

We proposed a collaborative performance event that would engage with the rhythm, dance, and historical memory of Petwo and how that resonates in contemporary Haiti. We were also interested in how the revolutionary resources encoded in Petwo inform vital imaginings of power, lakou (yard / community), and resistance so needed today.

The fast, fiery rhythm and forceful dance of Petwo carries on the energies and vitality of slave resistance. As artist/curator Leah Gordon (U.K.), co-director and co-founder of the Biennale with André Eugene (Haiti) asserts, artists in Haiti have developed an imaginative aesthetic language that keeps their “unique revolutionary history” pertinent and present (Gordon 2012, 21). What we concerned ourselves with in this project were the ways in which Petwo’s “kinesthetic imagination” (Roach 1996) could be communicated and revisioned through the passage and aesthetic elaboration of story, dance, and collective kinetic experience. In doing so, we hoped to assert that there is a common necessity to this revolutionary history and dancing in common could perhaps mobilize its universal but grounded force. How could we harness Petwo’s call for unification across difference in order to foment revolution such that it performatively activates new energetic revolts and social imaginings in the Gran Rue neighborhood in which we performed, in Haiti, for U.S. and Haitian dancers, for us, or for our audience?

ARTFORUM included a positive review of our performance, along with a photo, in its review of the Fourth Ghetto Biennale by C. C. McKee. McKee wrote, “Their performance posited resistance as an assemblage that creates a new whole instead of maintaining division, whether national, spiritual, or ontological…. By drawing out the false dichotomy between “ghetto” and “biennale,” the performance asserted the inextricable inclusion of Haiti in a globalized contemporaneity.” Read the full review in ARTFORUM.

Photos below by Lazaros for Ghetto Biennale and Lee Lee.

View excerpted video of this piece.

Read our co-authored essay about the process of developing this piece in Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory.

At Field Studies, a laboratory for choreographer-scholars to move new projects forward in an environment of collaboration and experimentation, I presented "Suspended Experience," a piece exploring new ideas regarding my relationship to embodied vocabulary including Afro-Caribbean folklore and classical ballet, my experience and memories of the Caribbean, and nobel laureate Derek Walcott's poetry.

Field Studies: June 5th and 6th, 2015, Chez Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY. Photos by Jose Conde.

Performed as part of the series Crossing Boundaries at Dixon Place curated by Marcia Monroe on June 24, 2014. Choreography by Ann Mazzocca with Jennifer Brogle, Kayla Jewette, Christopher Ortiz, and Jose Conde, Obanilu Ire, and Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre on percussion and vocals.

Special thanks to Christopher Newport University for supporting the development and production of this project.

Images provided by Giancarlo Vega. All rights reserved.

"Oba Obatala" is a solo exploring the qualities of the Cuban Lucumí orisha Obatala; king of the white cloth, symbol of peace, justice, and intellect. The sound score included recordings of Menini teaching a song class in Matanzas, Cuba, Cuban radio, and spoken text by Jose Conde and Ann Mazzocca.

Images provided by Christiana Caro. All rights reserved.

"Oshun at the Water: Deconstructed" was created and performed for Stockley Gardens Arts Festival in Norfolk, Virginia. May 2014.

With Kayla Jewette and Ifé Michelle. Dale Paul Lazar and Johnny Finn on percussion.

Images provided by Paul Chin. All rights reserved.

Performed at Stockley Gardens Arts Festival, May 17, 2014. 

Images provided by Christiana Caro. All rights reserved.

"Offering for Oshun & Yemayá" performed as part of ArtPile #3, The Hague, Norfolk, VA, June 29, 2014. With Ifé Michelle and Kayla Jewette. Orimolade Ogunjimi on percussion and vocals with Dale Paul Lazar and Jose Conde.

Images provided by Rodney Malpaya. All rights reserved.

Performed for ArtPile #2, at the Fawn Street Studios, Norfolk, VA. May 2013.

Choreographed and performed by Ann Mazzocca, featuring Fernando Hernandez and introducing loVe Pile.

Music: “Auntie’s Lock/Infinitum (feat. Laura Darlington),” Flying Lotus; “Survive It,” Ghostpoet; Recording from Souvenance Mystique ceremony, Artibonite, Haiti, March 2008, Mazzocca.

Special thanks to loVe Pile: Diana Caramat, Christiana Caro, Drew Darrell, Seth Feman, Kelly Ann Jackson, Brittany Kinkle, and Liz Sanderson.

Inspired by Ossain, the divinity found in Yoruba-based religions who holds the knowledge of the medicinal and ceremonial purposes of uncultivated plants and herbs, this piece also points to the necessity of community within ceremony. Working collaboratively with dancers and non-dancers, movements are mixed and recombined to evoke her memories, conflicts, and imagination drawn from experiences within Haitian ceremonial communities.

Images provided by Paul Chin. All rights reserved.

Choreography collaboration with Suzanne Wiltgen. Performed for ArtPile #1 at Fawn Street Studios, Norfolk, VA, December 2, 2012. Performed by Ann Mazzocca and Kayla Jewette. Original score by Kelly Rossum; performed by Kelly Rossum and Annie Stevens.

Images provided by Paul Chin. All rights reserved.

"...Inside the Skirt" was performed at "Crossing Boundaries" curated by Marcia Monroe at Dixon Place, New York, NY, May 29, 2012. Choreographed by Ann Mazzocca with dancers Rainy Demerson and Jennifer Donello, vocalist, dancer, percussionist Michelle "Buffy" Drysdale, and Rodolphe "Neg Mawon" Pierre and Yatande Boko on drums and vocals.

The development of this piece was supported by a grant from Christopher Newport University. 

Images provided by Jose Conde. All rights reserved.

Collaboration with Jennifer Brogle Jones and Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre performed at "QuikSnap" curated by Rani Welch at The Rover Soho, Manhattan, September 10-12, 2010. Also with Jude "Yatande Boko" Sanon with percussion and vocals.

With "Rete/Trankil" we created an atmosphere of multiple sensations by using field recordings and live drumming, movement, physical proximity, and aromatic elements. 

A Mama Zile ak Miwazan Production

Images provided by Kaori Sohma. All rights reserved.

Evening-length work including multiple pieces listed below with cast of 10 dancers and two drummers performed at University of California, Riverside Performance Lab April 29 – May 1, 2010 in partial fulfillment of the MFA in Experimental Choreography.

Directed/Choreographed by Ann Mazzocca in collaboration with

Dancers: Taywanna Hightower, Jennifer Brogle Jones, Adanna Kai Jones, Natali Micciche, Ryan Morris, Diana Navarrete, Hannah Schwadron, Brandon Wagner, Erica Washington.

Drummers: Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre and Husni Abu Bakar.

Ocean, Ogou, Ossagne Originally performed with Husni Abu Bakar, at Sweeney Art Gallery, downtown Riverside, May 2009. Dancer: Ann Mazzocca Drummer: Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre

Yanvalou Made at UCR, January 2010.

Based on Haitian folkloric performances of Yanvalou with Lionel St. Surin, Julio Jean, Mikerline Pierre, and Peniel Guerrier, and a workshop with Pierre Desrameaux. 

Dancers in order of appearance: Jennifer Brogle Jones, Natali Micciche, Ryan Morris, Hannah Schwadron, Diana Navarrete, Erica Washington, Brandon Wagner, Taywanna Hightower.

Drummers: Neg Mawon and Husni Abu Bakar.

Souvnans UCR December 2009.

Based on my experimental video Souvnans: Embodied Remembrance finished in February 2009 based on my experience at Souvnans, Haiti in March 2008.

Dancers: Taywanna Hightower, Natali Micciche, Ryan Morris, Diana Navarrete, Hannah Schwadron, Brandon Wagner, Erica Washington.

Sound: Edited recordings from Lakou Souvenance (Souvnans) during their annual weeklong Vodou ceremony taken March 21-25, 2008.

Kolaborasyon Tanbou Drummers: Rodolphe “Neg Mawon” Pierre and Husni Abu Bakar

Ogou Within the Skirt 

Part I: Lovana

Part II: Ogou

Part III: Skirt Morph

Created December 2009 - present at Shambhala Yoga and Dance Studio, Brooklyn, NY and at UCR with the performers.

Dancers: Adanna Kai Jones, Natali Micciche, and Hannah Schwadron with Jennifer Brogle Jones.

Drummers: Husni and Neg Mawon.

Ocean, Ogou, Ossagne: Remix (aka House Solo)

Created at UCR spring 2009.

Dancer: Ann Mazzocca

Drummer: Husni Abu Bakar

Music: Hang Around (Karizma Kaytronic Dub Remix) by Ben Westbeech and Camino del Sol (Joakim Remix) by Antena.

Arc of Night

Created in Brooklyn, NY summer 2009.

Originally performed in Manhattan as a trio with Jessica St. Vil and Jennifer Brogle Jones with Neg Mawon and Jude “Papaloko” Thegenus on drums.

Dancers: Jennifer Brogle Jones and Ann Mazzocca

Drummers: Husni and Neg Mawon

Rara

Inspired by visits to Haiti in Sodo where the sound of “ban a pye” (band on foot) would put me to sleep and wake me up in the morning, lead us from the waterfalls to the river and back – and on the road to Souvnans at the height of Rara season.

Performed by the whole cast.

Ocean, Ogou, Ossagne: Revisited

Acknowledgements

I would like to offer a special thanks to my MFA committee: Wendy Rogers (Committee Chair), Neil Greenberg, and Anthea Kraut, whose time, interest, and investment have both supported and challenged me in this project. Through dialogue in both PhD and MFA courses in UCR’s program I would like to also acknowledge input and ideas set forth by dance faculty Marta Savigliano, Susan Rose, Jacqueline Shea Murphy, SanSan Kwan as well as Karen Wilson, my colleagues in the program who have all offered feedback, encouragement, and critical perspectives. Thank you to my dedicated (bicoastal) cast, my supportive family, friends, and collaborators, without whom this project would not exist. In addition to the Haitian teachers mentioned in the Yanvalou notes, I would like to acknowledge Haiti, its rich culture, the friends I have made, the lwa, and my ancestors who have inspired this work as well as held my hand along the way. Ayibobo, Ayiti cheri! Mwen renmen w an pil… 

Images provided by Nicoletta Da Ros. All rights reserved.