blackmilk 

is the first part of the trompoppies trilogy by Tiran Willemse. “Trompoppies” is Afrikaans and describes drum majorettes in uniform. The performance examines one of the choreographic elements of the formation dances they perform: the precise hand gestures. Fusing trompoppies movements with the melodramatic gestures of white female starlets and gestures associated with Black male rap stars the work explores the distance between African and Afro-American male identities. blackmilk intervenes into cultural representations of Black masculinity using the means of performance, opening it up to a different complexity and sensitivity that the artist describes as „black male melancholia“.

Choreography, performance Tiran Willemse, Lighting design Fudetani Ryoya, Music Manuel Riegler, Costume lml studio, Production Paelden Tamnyen, Rabea Grand, With special thanks to Nkisi, Kevin Bo, Mateusz Szymanówka, Thyago Sainte.

A production of Tiran Willemse together with Tanzquartier Wien, SOPHIENSÆLE Berlin, Gessnerallee Zürich and WPzimmer, Antwerpen; Residency supported by Tanzhaus Zürich, Buda, Kortrijk, LesUrbaines, Lausanne.

Funded by Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser, funded by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.