The Emerson Theater Collaborative, in partnership with the Arts Academy of Sedona, will continue the company’s performance season with “Democracy and Fayettenam,” a solo piece by Jay Ruby, from Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 1 through 3, at the Verde Valley School’s Brady Hall at 3511 Verde Valley School Road in the Village of Oak Creek.
“‘Democracy and Fayettenam’ is a reflective piece by [Ruby], and it combines spoken word and physical theatre,” producer Camilla Ross said. “[Ruby] addresses early settlement in American life, American conscience … What’s important about this piece is it’s some of his relatives that have contributed to America in so many different ways. So he examines the roots, and the consequences of cultural conflict … And he puts it in the relationship and respect to land. What we as Americans look like for the future, and how we work towards each other as people.”
“They are two different shows,” Ruby said. “One is a political rant [on] democracy. That looks at the roots of creating the conditions for true democracy, and how the frustration that I feel as an artist and an activist in trying to reach true democracy, we run into all of these impediments, which ultimately, come back to not living and loving together, so it’s a rant about those frustrations. And it sets the tone for what is a much deeper introspective exploration of personal genetics, cultural history, which is the second performance.” Ross added that she plans to have a conversation with the audience about the show following Ruby’s performance. It was during one of her previous post-show sessions that Ruby formed a friendship with Daveed Nelson, one of the founding members of The Last Poets and forefathers of hip-hop.
“Formed during the Civil Rights era, The Last Poets created the roots of what would later be called rap,” ETC stated in a press release. “The Last Poets started out in the late ’60s, speaking out as few other musical groups had, or have since, about racism, poverty and other African-American and societal concerns. They were the rappers of the civil rights era. The Last Poets’ charge has been taken up by many contemporary artists who have felt the legendary group’s influence. One of the founding members of the group, it was Nelson who came up with the name for the group. Nelson appeared on the Original Last Poets film documentary and soundtrack ‘Right On!’ Some of [Nelson’s] classic poems are ‘Today Is A Killer’ and ‘Poetry Is Black.’”
“I’m going to introduce his [performance] and say a few words but I’m going to do a poem called ‘My Heart it’s Already Buried,’” Nelson said. “The title is an allusion to [Dee Brown’s 1970 book] ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ and the Trail of Tears and the cultural history of America that we refuse to explore. We [have] got to resolve these issues and the voice of [Ruby] is a voice that must be heard.”
The performance addresses the roots of cultural conflict and examines the mythology of America from Johnny Appleseed to Ruby’s own genealogy as a descendent of an American revolutionary growing up in Pennsylvania.
“One of the key refrains in ‘Fayettenam’ that connects to [Nelson’s] work it is an exploration of the shadow of genocide and slavery, which informs most of the unconscious political decisions in the United States,” Ruby said. “The performance began as a deep introspection of how I come to be. In this context where I grew up, we don’t get to choose where we’re born, we have to learn to recognize it. The deeper I looked into that, I saw that my place of birth and where I grew up was drenched in old colonial traumas. But none of that was on the surface, nobody was talking about it.”
“I’m here to also bring forgiveness to represent black humanity on the planet earth and say, there’s forgiveness, you’re not guilty of this trauma,” Nelson said. “We ought to work it out together. We both went through this trauma that we all went through together. Some people suffered to be killed, and some people suffered to be killers and it’s all suffering. You don’t have to feel guilty. You just have to acknowledge there’s a trauma that you went through and get over the trauma.
“Stop hiding behind, ‘I’m not part of it. I’ve escaped from it. I ain’t doing nothing.’ No, just deal with the trauma, have some conversations. That’s my commitment as your closest approach to the leadership of black people. Don’t let nobody fool you. You got to take responsibility. You got to be called by God and say I’m taking responsibility. I see the people who pose as leaders, and they’re hiding from their own trauma. That’s all it is. Let us into the club with you guys. Everybody is traumatized trying to live a real human life. You can’t do it. [You] got to have conversation.”
“If you’ve not seen an Emerson Theater Collaborative production, you really ought to come to Brady Hall because it is Broadway quality, and I’m sure that these … shows will be that way as well,” VVS Head of School Ben Lee said.
“Theatre is medicine and everyoneshould take time to reflect, especially as we enter Black History Month,” Ruby said. “The ability of performance to reshape and reform our relationships with one another is very powerful if you give it space nurturance and that leads to navigating cultures, which is undoing that sense of otherness. It also requires organizing community … The Emerson Theater Collaborative, which is hosting this event, is doing some incredible work in the Verde Valley at showing different narratives and bringing people together to reflect and this performance would not be happening without their efforts.”
Performances will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. For more information and tickets, visit emersontheatercollaborative.org or call (860) 705-9711.
