FEBRUARY 5 - 22, 2025
At The Bushwick Starr: 419 Eldert Street, Brooklyn
Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7:30pm

Students + Seniors: use code STUSEN0225 for $5 off!

Created and performed by Ian Andrew Askew
Produced in association with ¡Oye! Group

SLAMDANCE garage is a solo performance on punk and blackness. Nestled somewhere between performance art, a rock show, and an one-act opera, Ian Andrew Askew hurdles through an hour of music, movement, and text celebrating the absurdity of explaining Black people’s participation in their own culture.

SLAMDANCE garage borrows text from Nina Simone, Audre Lorde, Drexciya, and other luminaries, reharmonizing their words to the sounds of drums, distorted vocals, and the blaring resonance of a custom-one string bass. Inspired by the Malawian babatoni, Mississippi diddley-bow, and the Afro-Brazilian berimbau, the handmade instrument (nearly the same length as its player) is an homage to throughlines of musical technology that weave through the African diaspora.

CREATIVE TEAM:
Production Designer: Cheyanne Williams, Lighting Designer: Itohan Edoloyi, Sound Designer: Anthony Sertel Dean, Movement Director: Justin Allen, Stage Manager: Sydneii Colter, Assistant Stage Manager: Malena Logan

Line Producer: Alverneq Lindsay

PERFORMANCE INFO

Run time: 60 minutes, one act
Performance contains: Loud music and haze / atmospherics

Accessibility & Communal Safety:
Masks are required at all performances and events. Help us slow the spread of airborne infections and make performances more accessible for those most affected by the ongoing pandemic.

All performances will feature open captioning. Live audio description will be offered on February 13 and 22.

This is a concert-style environment with primarily standing room in front of the stage. There is also a 38 person seating section available on a first come first served basis, or for people who require a seat. You will have the opportunity to let us know if you have an access seating need at check-out.

Please contact boxoffice@thebushwickstarr.org for more information on how we can meet your access needs.

The Bushwick Starr is a fully ADA accessible venue.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Black Theater Night (with code SDG0221)
Friday, 2/21, 7:30pm

SLAMDANCE Vendor Markets at the Starr
FREE walk-in events highlighting Black and Indigenous makers and messengers featuring art, apparel, books, zines, jewelry, readings, and more!
Saturday 2/15 2:30-7:30pm
Saturday 2/22 2:30-7:30pm

Closing Party at Trans-Pecos (915 Wyckoff Ave)
Saturday 3/1, doors at 4:30pm
Featuring performances by Bri Frei, Justin Allen, Shara Lunon, aden, FISHLORD, Lake Lanier, and Fulano!
GET TIX HERE

SUPPORT + DEVELOPMENT:

The SLAMDANCE series was conceived through an independent study with Harvard Theater, Dance, and Media. SLAMDANCE TV, a video essay, was commissioned and published by The Kitchen in 2021. SLAMDANCE garage was presented in-progress at The Performing Garage in 2021 with support from Kaneza Schaal and the Wooster Group. The Bushwick Starr’s presentation of SLAMDANCE garage was developed in residency at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.

Photo by Machel Ross