Symara Sarai
I want it to rain inside
Runtime: 40 minutes
Jan 11 at 1pm
Jan 13 at 3pm
I want it to rain inside is a physical voyage through Symara Sarai’s paternal and maternal lineage, a complex and tender cascade. Paying homage to her late father and longing to understand him better she embodies his complex personhood. Through family lore with lassoing as an access point she uses American cultural fantasy from her fathers lineage in the wild West and deep South. The work is juxtaposed next to that which she does know; the matriarchal. She performs a series of scores that center autonomy and liberation, energetically emboldening the black feminine to charge boundlessly through space and time.
Ticketing Info
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The development of this work was made possible in part by a 2023/2024 Women in Motion Commission and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation through Eva Dean Dance. The support of the Blacklight Summit and The Clarice performing Arts Center, PioneerGoEastCollective OutFront Festival, BAX Fall Space Grant and the Gallim Moving Artists Residency.
Live Artery 2025 is made possible in part with generous support from the following contributors: Anonymous, Betsy Berne, Amy Cassello, Christine Dakin, Cathy Edwards, Rachel Mckinstry, Okwui Okpokwasili, and Kathy Westwater.
JE Commission
I want it to rain inside
Choreographed by: Symara Sarai
Directed by: Symara Sarai
Performed by: Symara Sarai
Music by: Symara Sarai
Original Composition: CHIMI
BIOGRAPHIES
Symara Sarai, a Portland, Oregon native currently residing in Brooklyn, has immersed herself in interdisciplinary and choreographic studies globally with deep recognition. Named Dance Magazines’ 2025 “Top 25 to Watch,” a 2023 Bessie Winner for Breakout Choreographer, and a recipient of the Dai Ailian Foundation Scholarship based in Trinidad and Tobago, she is known to be a courageously committed performer and maker. The Dai Ailian Foundation scholarship led her to Beijing, China where she spent two years gaining an associate degree in modern choreography at the Beijing Dance Academy. Sarai is a 2019 graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance Program. She was a resident artist for Bearnstow, Gibney 6.2 Work Up, Gallim’s 2022 Moving Artist’s Residency, BAX’s Fall 2022 Space Grant Program, Center for Performance Research’s 2022 AIR Program, New York Live Arts Fresh Tracks Artist 23/24 as well as a 23/24 Women in Motion Commissioned artist. They are currently a 24-26 Movement Research Artist in Residence and a 24-26 Abrons Arts Center Performance AIRspace Resident. Their work as a performer and maker has been reviewed and featured in the NY Times, Dance Enthusiast, Fjord, as well as promoted through Forbes. She has had multiple film works commissioned by Berlin-based choreographer Christoph Winkler. They have presented work at New York Live Arts, The Clarice at UMD, The LGBT Center in NY, Judson Church, BAAD, Kestrels, and other venues throughout the United States, China, and Germany. She is currently an Urban Bush Women company member. She has also notably worked with Jasmine Hearn, Ogemdi Ude, Pioneers Go East Collective, Kevin Wynn, Joanna Kotze, Nattie Trogdon+Hollis Bartlett, and Slowdanger, among others. For more visit symarasarai.com
SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to Women in Motion for the development of this work. This was made possible by their 23/24 commission in partnership with Eva Dean Dance with the support of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
With love and thanks to my father, Michael Williams(1974-2012), and the pathways this work has created for our relationship to be.
As always thank you to the women in my life who paved the way for me to live loudly in my authenticity.
FUNDING CREDITS
-A 2023/2024 Women in Motion Commission and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation through Eva Dean Dance.
-The support of the Blacklight Summit and The Clarice performing Arts Center(2023)
-PioneerGoEastCollective OutFront Festival (2023)
-BAX Fall Space Grant (2022)
-Gallim Moving Artists Residency (2022)
