what is D UNDERBELLY? who is Baraka de Soleil?

D UNDERBELLY derives its name from the ‘underbelly’ of a slave ship; excavating the energy that surfaces from the depths of our cultural experiences.

Baraka de Soleil has been involved in the experimental movement, music and performance art scene, throughout the country and internationally, for the past 15 years. His artistry reflects moving images excavated from the multilayered traditions of the African Diaspora, immersed in an urban contemporary reality; actively crafting from ancestral memories, post-modern aesthetics and cultural legacies. Most recently, for his choreographic work on Sango: Lord of Thunder, Baraka was awarded the prestigious Katherine Dunham Choreography/AUDELCO for excellence in Black Theatre at the 34th annual VIV ceremony. This past summer he traveled to Ghana under the auspices of Jerome’s Travel & Study Fellowship to research & experience the spatial configurations of historic slave routes and castles. Baraka is presently an Artist in Residence at Brooklyn Arts Exchange. He will be curating the new word-based artist series, Live Deep N Flow, at Dixon Place beginning in April; as well as the ongoing and expanding multidisciplined series, Studies N Black, at Links Hall this coming fall.

www.dunderbelly.com