JESSE BONNELL

MURDER BALLAD 1938

Created in collaboration with Jessica Emmanuel // Directed by Jesse Bonnell

Murder Ballad 1938 is an evening length dance theater piece for two dancers. the legendary recording, written and performed by Jelly Roll Morton explores the murder ballad themes through sexual and gendered blurring, a bedrock for our creative exploration. The performance explores race, gun violence and is both a protest and funeral rite in the wake of Micheal Brown's death in Ferguson Missouri.

Originally performed in the brothels of New Orleans’ Storyville district, Morton's song revels in the nastiness of its heroine’s voice, whose feral physical energy lays claim to the violent impulses of a woman betrayed. The Murder Ballad delves into the myth of female madness and racialized representations of sexuality.

The Murder Ballad 1938 was presented as part of the 2015 Spring Season at REDCAT.