IN THE PROFESSIONAL ARENA

Death’s Door

Bessie Award winning work choreographed and written by Cynthia Oliver

Performed by Cynthia Oliver, Renee Redding-Jones, and Osunwale Tandum-Lett

Music by Straylight featuring Jason Finkelman and Geoff Gersh

Songstress: Helga Davis

Premiered at Performance Space 122 (New York, NY), 1995

Death’s Door tells the story of one woman’s encounters with death through the voices of four women. With  song and dance, we lament lives cut short by fate’s hand and celebrate lives long lived. Using the weapon of the tongue, the power of the body, and the strength of the imagination and spirit, Death’s Door faces the ultimate human mystery with candor, humor, and surrender. This collage of movement, music, and the spoken word moves the performers from the African American canvas to the Caribbean, from moments alone to feelings of filled wakes reminiscent of carnival. This journey of moments is told through the voice of Helga Davis and the bodies of Renee Redding-Jones, Osunwale Tandum Lett-Murray, and myself with music by Straylight featuring Jason Finkelman and Geoff Gersh.