Award-winning dance artist and cultural innovator Ivan Michael Blackstock’s TRAPLORD is an immersive dance performance meditating on life, death and rebirth. Wandering between dreams and reality, TRAPLORD takes us on a new heroic journey to self-actualisation.
Using dance, theatre and spoken word to explore raw and confrontational themes of mental health and masculinity, TRAPLORD is an invitation to question the stereotyping of Black men in contemporary western society; an attempt to escape from the mental state of being condemned before having lived.
Director and Choreographer, Ivan Michael Blackstock said: “Bringing TRAPLORD to the theatrical stage is something I’ve felt I needed to do for a long time. The experience and story it tells is one that has always felt present in me so uncovering that truth and sharing it in this way brings me great relief and a sense of healing. Looking at the cycle of life, death and rebirth from a black male perspective, along with the specific challenges to mental health that go along with this, I hope that this production will encourage audiences to delve within themselves to reflect and find their own way of taking positive action in their own lives. It’s incredible to see the TRAPLORD universe start to take shape – watch this space.”
Director and Choreographer Ivan Michael Blackstock
Co-Designer Chloe Lamford
Co-Designer Shannkho Chaudhuri
Lighting Designer Simisola Majekodunmi
Sound Designer Luke Swaffield for Autograph
Video Designer Ian Galloway
Costume Designer Saskia Lenaerts
