Preview: Nightclubbing, Trinity

Rachael Young’s Nightclubbing harnesses live music, intergalactic visions and a seminal Grace Jones album to spark a revolution in race and gender politics. 

“Nightclubbing looks towards a different future: a future where being a Person of Colour, or being a woman, or being a queer person doesn’t count against you, where we come together and harness our enormous collective power, in the hope of challenging the systems that hold us down.”

This is performer Rachael Young discussing Nightclubbing, her new multimedia performance that harnesses live music, intergalactic visions and the Afrofuturism movement to start a revolution.

The show has its genesis in two dates: 1981, when Grace Jones releases her landmark album Nightclubbing, and 2015, when three women are refused entry into a London nightclub on account of their skin tone and weight. Or, as Rachael puts it, “Grace Jones: a dark-skinned, androgynous, Jamaican woman, transcending societal norms to become an international superstar. Then later, three young black women, discriminated against and excluded, their bodies branded; ‘undesirable’. We are those women, we zoom through galaxies and solar systems, traveling through time, preparing for our moment to land.”

Rachael Young in ‘Nightclubbing’

So, we need some background on Afrofuturism, the multimedia aesthetic and philosophy of science and history that gives the show its flavour. “I didn’t know loads about Afrofuturism before I started researching for this show,” Rachael reveals. “Researching it has opened me up to a whole host of incredible black artists, scientists and inventors, and has given me a really hopeful way to view the world.

“Amongst other things, I’ve been reading a book called Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack. It gives a brilliant overview of how, through various media, Afrofuturism strives to break down racial, ethnic and social limitations and to empower and free individuals to be themselves.

“The term was coined in 1993, but artists, musicians, writers and scientists were working with Afrofuturist ideas arguably since the 1950s, when [experimental musician and poet, and cosmic philosopher] Sun Ra first emerged. There’s a great podcast on This American Life called We are the Future, which explores the movement and introduces loads of incredible people working within the genre right now.

“Many of the important figures within the Afrofuturist movement are women – Octavia Butler, Grace Jones, Chakaia Booker, Janelle Monae – and the ideas at the centre of Afrofuturism run counter to processes of power by exploitation of all kinds.

“The patriarchal power structure that we live under is intimately linked to a history of colonialism and white supremacy. It’s not possible to disentangle racism and sexism. Approaches offered by Afrofuturism show a multitude of different representations of black women. We’re not reduced to stereotypes and our blackness, our femaleness, our queerness is celebrated and lifted up rather than denigrated.

And why was Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing selected, in particular, as a musical touchstone for the piece? “Nightclubbing was an influential album, way ahead of its time, and incredibly eclectic – it mixed reggae, electronica, funk, soul, tango and post punk, and incorporated lots of remixes. Similarly, I’m interested in the fusion of lots of different styles of music: how different things are brought together to create something exciting. This feels the same when I look at the people that make up the UK today.

Grace Jones’ seminal 1981 album ‘Nightclubbing’ inspired Rachael’s eponymous show

“Nightclubbing was Grace Jones’ seminal album. She was creating music with more autonomy, she was unapologetic about her cultural identity, bringing more reggae to her work. This is her being her authentic self. I guess the show is about being your authentic self regardless about what others think. Grace Jones’ music was a pushback. This show is my pushback.”

The show comes to Trinity on November 2 as part of IGNiTE, the venue’s in-house programme of theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, starting conversations and sparking debate. And debate is just what Rachael hopes to provoke.

“In 2015, when a story hit the news about a group of women who were refused entry to a London nightclub on account of their skin tone and their weight, I was astonished. The fact that the world fails to see and value our beauty is a constant source of disbelief and anger.  I became interested in exploring what a figure like Grace Jones could offer us as we fight for a better future.

“Grace Jones is a dark-skinned, androgynous, proud Jamaican woman, who became an international superstar and who has remained up there for decades, despite or perhaps because of her uncompromising approach to everything she does. Similarly, nightclubs should be spaces of liberation and revolution, not spaces of oppression – places where we can let go and allow our unbridled selves to be free.”

Nightclubbing comes to Trinity on Nov 2. For more info, visit www.3ca.org.uk/activities/ignite/whats-on/ignite-shows/nightclubbing

Pics: Marcus Hessenberg

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