RAPHAEL XAVIER

Skiff

PREMIERING Fall 2024
Running time: 60 minutes
Conceived and Directed by Raphael Xavier

Forty years as a practitioner of the form, an aged Breaker will set out far beyond shallow perspectives in search of “The Big Fish.”

Skiff is a new, evening length work for two. 53 year old Breaker and choreographer, Raphael Xavier contextualizes the work through the lens of Earnest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” the classic novel about a fisherman’s relentless battle with a giant Marlin. Xavier creates original text and spoken word to be interwoven with Hemingway, drawing parallels between the fisherman’s search and his own journey to build a dance career utilizing the artform of Breaking. Skiff features elements practiced by Xavier, merging story telling, rap, spoken word and Breaking, to examine the psychological effects of performing.

In addition to the novel, Skiff also draws inspiration from 19^th century American painter Winslow Homer’s “The Gulf Stream” the iconic painting of a Black man in a small, rudderless fishing boat engulfed by a restless sea as sharks circle below. The powerful imagery aligns with Skiff’s exploration of the male body, race, identity, privilege and power while encouraging conversations of identity, legacy and lineage.

Skiff features a transportable set constructed of white spandex panels, that create abstract shapes and designs specific to the story. Those shapes double as projection screens to put the audience as close to the story as possible, immersing the viewer into the work.

The transportable set allows for Skiff to be performed in galleries and intimate spaces as well as traditional proscenium stages.

THE XCOPE (2021)

Running Time: 40-55 minutes, flexible to presenter’s needs. (Performed with live music)
Directed by: Raphael Xavier
Choreographer & Performed in collaboration with: Raphael Xavier and Local Performers
Music by: Tim Motzer

Local Performers audition and join Xavier in the creation process and performance.

A site-specific performance combining a live musician/vocalist and electronic technology with hip hop aesthetics that include Breaking, poetry, spoken word and rap cadences with an improvisational and intuitive approach. THE XCOPE embodies the experiences of each performer to create narratives – capturing a moment in time shared by performers and audience. Xavier offers a multi-day residency option where local performers in music, dance and/or poetry audition, rehearse and perform alongside Xavier to create a one-of-a-kind event with deep community engagement.