BLACK DRESS
"If I were to stand here in this dress and tell you I don’t feel like a woman, would you believe me?"
Black Dress is a euphoric solo exploration of nonbinary femme identity told through story, dance and 12 black dresses from performer Becka McFadden’s own wardrobe. Shot through with humour, vulnerability and queer joy, Black Dress invites you on a journey of self-discovery and celebration.
From a sunny terrace in Calabria, to the challenges of gender-neutral pronouns in Czech, to a queer utopian ski lodge that doesn’t actually exist (yet), Black Dress will make you laugh, think and - above all - feel pleasure.
“Aesthetically and dance-wise, the performance is balanced and demonstrates ballet and contemporary elements at a technically virtuoso level. The acoustically professional performance is also physically and mentally challenging. The production escapes the pitfalls of theatricality and the temptation to be purely a dance performance. [...] The performance is
moving, funny and rebellious.”
– Marie Kobrlová, Tanecniaktuality.cz
Coproduced by Venuše ve Švehlovce with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Plum Yard/Continuo Theatre’s New Ways residency program.
Concept, performance: Becka McFadden
Dramaturgy, choreography: Becka McFadden, Daniel Somerville
Assistant director: Markéta Pščolková
Video art, assistant visual direction: Mariia Reshetova
Translation: Eva Ullrichová
Photography: Michaela Škvrňáková, Paul Wade, Svetlana Lopato
Technical collaboration: Filip Obermajer
Production: Kateřina Kubíková, Michaela Kessler, Adriána Spišaková
Black Dress is available for touring. An accompanying exhibition, performative pre-show talk and an intimate, durational version of the performance are also available.