Unwanted Heroes (2022)

Choreography: Jose Velasquez

Company: Soul Struck

★★★★★

Unwanted Heroes was the perfect note to end the night. The piece displayed the most impressive physical feats while expressing a storyline that was both mythological in its scope, and deeply personal in its delivery. Five Performers posed in spotlight while a voice directly addressed the audience. This voice told the story of Gods, those who made magic and bestowed on humans their mighty rite. Each stanza activated a different performer whose movements mirrored the spoken narrative. According to this mythos, those found in “the sleeping streets”, born of melanated skin, were to be the true recipients of this divine power. Those who would interpret that power as both dangerous and profitable deem those who wield it enemy and because they have capital, the magical are treated as lesser than. This piece is about what it means to be an artist in the context of our society. It speaks to the challenges necessary to overcome obstacles, and to discover our talents, flaws and super powers. 

Jose Velasquez leads Soul Struck through a series of break out solo scenes; each of the five performers representing a different genre of dance. Together they showcase their expertise in krumping, break, B-boy and ballet, all wearing vans, and street clothes. This is a welcomed departure from the flowy earth tones and monochrome jumpsuits that have become commonplace in modern dance performance.

These were the most active on stage, performing physical feats of movement that seemed to overwhelm the audience at Reynolds theater, though they would have been commonplace in certain cultural circles; cyphers, parks or basketball courts wherever Black and Brown people are found. In either context, these were amazing acts of artistry; exhibits of tremendous commitment to craft and physical control. 

This was the most impressive performance of the night and served as the perfect bridge between what would typically be described as “street dance” and what has been mutually agreed (mostly by white academia) to be “classical” or “performance art. This is the performance with which I could most easily identify, the one that let me know that “we” were in the building, at the table, a part of the larger conversation about what Art is and can be. -- S. Silver

Photos by: Ben McKeown