3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness
Edisa Weeks is a choreographer, educator, curator and founder of DELIRIOUS Dances, who creates interactive work that explores our deepest desires, darkest fears, and sweetest dreams.
Artist Bio3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness interrogates why life, liberty, and happiness were included in the U.S. Declaration of Independence as inalienable rights. The performance is divided into three parts that can be performed consecutively or as stand-alone works: Life questions the world’s dependency on fossil fuels; Liberty digs into the pathologizing of African-Americans and the foundations of liberty in America through a performance and installation of 1,865 roots made of paper and twine; and Happiness asks how laughter and pleasure reside in the body. Through dance, live music, text, visual installations, community discussion and shared meals, 3 RITES encourages reflection on what it means to be guaranteed life, liberty and happiness by the government, and how we ensure that those rights are accessible for all citizens, while activating a sense of responsibility to take action towards social change.
3 RITES: Liberty premiered from October 12-15, 2023 at Mark O’Donnell Theater.
3 RITES: Happiness premiered from November 16-18, 2023 at Weeksville Heritage Center.
Creative Capital Carnival 2022
Edisa Weeks
Brooklyn, NY
Edisa Weeks is a choreographer, educator, curator and founder of DELIRIOUS Dances. She creates multimedia interactive work that explores our deepest desires, darkest fears, and sweetest dreams. Her work has been performed in a variety of venues including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, and Mount Tremper Arts; as well as in swimming pools, storefront windows, senior centers, sidewalks and living rooms. Weeks grew up in Uganda, Papua New Guinea and Brooklyn, NY; has a BA from Brown University; and received a full fellowship to attend New York University’s TISCH School of the Arts where she obtained an MFA in choreography. She has performed with Annie–B Parsons/Big Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co., Dance Brazil, Homer Avila, Jane Comfort, Jon Kinzel, Muna Tseng, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, Sally Silvers, Spencer/Colton Dance, among others. In addition, she danced in the 2016 Bessie award-winning performance by The Skeleton Architecture. She is on the Board of Directors for Movement Research and is an Associate Professor of Dance at Queens College, where she teaches modern technique, improvisation, choreography, and mentors emerging artists.
Photo: Julie Lemberger
Events
- Edisa Weeks: 3 Rites: Liberty Friday & Saturday, April 26 & 27, 2024
- Edisa Weeks: 3 RITES: Happiness November 16, 2023 — November 18, 2023
- Edisa Weeks: 3 RITES: Liberty October 12, 2023 — October 15, 2023