mama [rose.] by storäe - support black queer film
Donation protected
We deserve black queer art and artists.
We deserve stories featuring layered and full characters who are queer, trans, and non-binary.
We deserve stories of intergenerational healing and self-love.
This and more is the afro-futurist, queer, circular time-traveling performance story told in mama [rose.], written and performed by storäe michele (www.storaemichele.com).
storäe michele [she/they]—a self-given name speaking to the sacred act of storytelling—is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, poet, playwright, theologian and seasoned educator. their choreopoem, mama [rose], was accepted into Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices (2021).
mama [rose.] is the second film and choreopoem in storäe's corpus, and your support is needed to bring it to completion.
your generous contribution will support compensating some of storäe's collaborators (musicians, dramaturg, cinematographer and editor), set design, and costuming for this one-person show/film (which will soon have an afterlife in theater!).
mama [rose.]
mama [rose.] follows three familial relationships and their journeys toward healing intergenerational wounds. through VHS archives of past-present-future times, an eighty-nine-year old trans archaeologist and oracle, Mama Rose, transmits indigenous wisdom and ways of knowing to her grandchild, a sixteen-year-old non-binary teen named Sid, as Sid navigates their own becoming and transforming relationship to their mother, Delores. these archives, based on research and documentation of lived experiences, provide glimpses into the lacunae, the gaps, that exist in black folx histories.
their short experimental films offer a kaleidoscope effect through the act of quilting. each time a frame is altered or obscured, they are stitching a new fabric, texture and reality. their films become speculative in this way, applying afro-fabulation and storytelling through poetic prose, rhythm and earnest curiosity.
this production is brought to life through a collaboration of incredible artists including Elyse Ambrose, Jé Hooper, Monet Noelle Marshall, Rashad McPherson, Be Steadwell and Charles Witherspoon.
to provide an example, here (https://vimeo.com/521643538/78a95d6b5f ) is one of their experimental archives: a practice in freedom-making: a meditation. archive #28. ["i am light."] performed and edited by storäe michele. filmed by Elyse Ambrose. song cover by Be Steadwell (www.besteadwell.com). You may also see more of storäe's work on her website.
More about the artist:
storäe michele [she/they]—a self-given name speaking to the sacred act of storytelling—is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, poet, playwright, theologian and seasoned educator.
their experimental films, performances, and choreopoems center black wunmi* folx, honoring their routes to authenticity— the reclamation of body, sexuality and personhood—which serve as reminders of how to create brave space as black queer wild + holy beings.
storäe returns to African diasporic folklore as a practice of story-weaving. by integrating archives of black folx, exploring ancestral accounts + documenting dreamworlds as transformative spells for healing, their art provides pathways toward future world-making.
their first film, [the listening heart], earned the Robert E. Seaver Award granted by Union Theological Seminary and has been officially selected by film festivals in Berlin, New York, Carbondale, Colorado and Cannes. their directorial debut was celebrated on the front cover of Women CineMakers , a digital magazine in Berlin.
storäe’s choreopoem, mama [rose], was accepted into Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices (Playwriting Cohort, August 2021). their upcoming performance piece [claustrophobia], is supported by Columbia University’s Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics & Social Justice as a Rapid Response grant recipient .
storäe is an Master of Professional Studies graduate in Creative Arts Therapy + Creativity Development of Pratt Institute (2008), an Interdisciplinary Master of Divinity graduate of Union Theological Seminary (2017), and is currently pursuing their Master of Fine Arts in Performance + Performance Studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
*wunmi: of Yoruba origin meaning love; i understand the body + mind of myself and others to be a representation and embodiment of love. in the American syntax, the “u” may represent the female and the “i” may represent the male. they are holding space for the intersections + transfiguration of both genders working together for the fullness of humanity.
We deserve stories featuring layered and full characters who are queer, trans, and non-binary.
We deserve stories of intergenerational healing and self-love.
This and more is the afro-futurist, queer, circular time-traveling performance story told in mama [rose.], written and performed by storäe michele (www.storaemichele.com).
storäe michele [she/they]—a self-given name speaking to the sacred act of storytelling—is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, poet, playwright, theologian and seasoned educator. their choreopoem, mama [rose], was accepted into Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices (2021).
mama [rose.] is the second film and choreopoem in storäe's corpus, and your support is needed to bring it to completion.
your generous contribution will support compensating some of storäe's collaborators (musicians, dramaturg, cinematographer and editor), set design, and costuming for this one-person show/film (which will soon have an afterlife in theater!).
mama [rose.]
mama [rose.] follows three familial relationships and their journeys toward healing intergenerational wounds. through VHS archives of past-present-future times, an eighty-nine-year old trans archaeologist and oracle, Mama Rose, transmits indigenous wisdom and ways of knowing to her grandchild, a sixteen-year-old non-binary teen named Sid, as Sid navigates their own becoming and transforming relationship to their mother, Delores. these archives, based on research and documentation of lived experiences, provide glimpses into the lacunae, the gaps, that exist in black folx histories.
their short experimental films offer a kaleidoscope effect through the act of quilting. each time a frame is altered or obscured, they are stitching a new fabric, texture and reality. their films become speculative in this way, applying afro-fabulation and storytelling through poetic prose, rhythm and earnest curiosity.
this production is brought to life through a collaboration of incredible artists including Elyse Ambrose, Jé Hooper, Monet Noelle Marshall, Rashad McPherson, Be Steadwell and Charles Witherspoon.
to provide an example, here (https://vimeo.com/521643538/78a95d6b5f ) is one of their experimental archives: a practice in freedom-making: a meditation. archive #28. ["i am light."] performed and edited by storäe michele. filmed by Elyse Ambrose. song cover by Be Steadwell (www.besteadwell.com). You may also see more of storäe's work on her website.
More about the artist:
storäe michele [she/they]—a self-given name speaking to the sacred act of storytelling—is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, poet, playwright, theologian and seasoned educator.
their experimental films, performances, and choreopoems center black wunmi* folx, honoring their routes to authenticity— the reclamation of body, sexuality and personhood—which serve as reminders of how to create brave space as black queer wild + holy beings.
storäe returns to African diasporic folklore as a practice of story-weaving. by integrating archives of black folx, exploring ancestral accounts + documenting dreamworlds as transformative spells for healing, their art provides pathways toward future world-making.
their first film, [the listening heart], earned the Robert E. Seaver Award granted by Union Theological Seminary and has been officially selected by film festivals in Berlin, New York, Carbondale, Colorado and Cannes. their directorial debut was celebrated on the front cover of Women CineMakers , a digital magazine in Berlin.
storäe’s choreopoem, mama [rose], was accepted into Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices (Playwriting Cohort, August 2021). their upcoming performance piece [claustrophobia], is supported by Columbia University’s Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics & Social Justice as a Rapid Response grant recipient .
storäe is an Master of Professional Studies graduate in Creative Arts Therapy + Creativity Development of Pratt Institute (2008), an Interdisciplinary Master of Divinity graduate of Union Theological Seminary (2017), and is currently pursuing their Master of Fine Arts in Performance + Performance Studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
*wunmi: of Yoruba origin meaning love; i understand the body + mind of myself and others to be a representation and embodiment of love. in the American syntax, the “u” may represent the female and the “i” may represent the male. they are holding space for the intersections + transfiguration of both genders working together for the fullness of humanity.
Organizer
Elyse Ambrose
Organizer
New York, NY
