Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran

Jason Moran: There's a centering moment which one might say is a meditative moment that begins each day. So this entails or kind of recalls spirituals, negro spirituals, a ring shout, which is something from the slave tradition in which slaves would gather in the woods and sing loose spirituals while walking around in a counter‑clockwise circle. Usually kind of arriving at a frenzy point out of repetition and using a mantra and sound and movement. It starts there, with music and spirituality.

Narrator: From there, many things may happen. Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, Moran’s regular group, will perform with Joan Jonas—an artist both Morans have worked with extensively. There will be a variety of performance events, which will take place in the main performance space that the Morans are creating. Meanwhile, there will be a smaller performance space by the window, arranged for just one performer and one audience member.

Jason Moran: As a performer, when you stand on a stage or wherever you do your performances, you're not really sure of who you're affecting. You know it might be the person that's the farthest away that's gathering the most and the person in the front is actually asleep. But this will be our first time looking at a way to really connect with that one person that's sitting in front of us. And it's not only us, it's writers who come in. It's poets who come in and speak from that spot. In that way there's a direct relationship with the artist and audience, which are both one and the same. They need each other, you know.