Ottawa 
Events Description
NAC Co-production
Body as archive
In Black vernacular dance and music, improvisation is composition.
For movement-based artist Justine A. Chambers, choreography and dance is a living archive, and The Brutal Joy is an act of preservation. The work is the final statement of her Heirloom Suite series of performances that activates Black line dance and Black style as embodied thought, reverie, and devotion to Black-living.
Black Dandyism is a practice of self-determination through clothing and style. In a custom-made suit of waxed-cotton, Chambers meets the world, embodying the understanding of Blackness as an unrelenting performance of self. Each gesture imprints a trace, a scar on the suit, acting as witness and archivist. Together with Mauricio Pauly (sound) and James Proudfoot (lights), she co-authors a structured improvisation using the compositional forms of The Electric Slide: an 18 step, 4-wall line dance.
Performed in an intimate space reminiscent of a jazz club she attended with her grandmother, The Brutal Joy calls the audience into presence.
Did You Know?
Justine A. Chambers was an NAC Visiting Dance Artist and created One Hundred More with dance artist Laurie Young, co-presented by ODD/SD10 and the NAC in 2022.
Interesting fact
With a lifelong passion for tailoring, fashion and costume, Justine’s personal style is matched only by the rigour of her performance works.
Who is it for?
All ages
HOW MUCH
Tickets : $30.00
$30.00 / ticket
How to get tickets?
Phone: 1-844-985-2787 (ARTS)
WHEN & WHERE
Date: Thursday November 20, 2025 to Saturday November 22, 2025
Thu. Nov 20, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Fri. Nov 21, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Sat. Nov 22, 2025 | 7:30 PM
≈ 55 minutes · No intermission
Venue & Address
Arts Court Theatre, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa Canada
Wheelchair accessible
Accessible by Public Transport
