6 Degrees and George Heathco pair up for the 2024-2025 Season

Testimony: Seen and Heard

September 18, 2024

Louise J. Moran Fine Arts Courtyard, enter through Blaffer Art Museum

4173 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004

Toni Valle and George Heathco collaborate on a new multidisciplinary, cross disciplinary response to the sculpture “Witness” by artist Shahzia Sikander that explores the theme of justice and “traditional representations of power.”  “Testimony: Seen and Heard” is an aerial dance performance/visual art installation created by various artists under the direction of Valle.  The artistic team consists of composer/UH Moores alum George Heathco, costume designer/UH Dance alum Ashley Horn Nott, UH visual art student Shelby Craze, performed by Craze, Veronica Ordonez, Michelle Reyes, and Talia Saulsberry. “Testimony: Seen and Heard” premieres at the Louise J. Moran Fine Arts Courtyard at the University of Houston as part of Convergence Research, an experimental platform for experimentation and research. Convergence Research is a collaboration between the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Art Museum. 

The sculpture “Witness,” originally commissioned in front of the New York Appellate Courthouse, incorporates elements of the courthouse’s architectural design, statues, and mosaics within the building. It is a visual commentary on human rights, bodily autonomy, the judicial system, and freedom of expression.  “Testimony: Seen and Heard” draws upon the sculpture’s design and content. The work accomplishes this by magnifying both the theme of the sculpture (bodily autonomy and unearthed roots), the structure of the sculpture (braids, roots, a woman not bound by earth), and the significance of its original location (Appellate Court, NY.) 

Valle is a veteran of collaborations, having created several evening-length works with multi-collaborators.  Valle aims to create an artistic work of professional excellence in various forms: music, dance, and visual art, worthy of the time and effort that Sikander invested in the sculpture. Aerial dance is uniquely suited to interpret the floating sculpture and the original intent of the artist to express that “women take their roots with them.” Like the sculpture itself, the dancers are suspended above the earth, exploring physical interpretations of the sculpture’s design – twisting, winding, braiding, and weaving – to an original sound score by Heathco.  Craze’s art installation on the aerial rig incorporates the braids and roots. The performance is followed by a moderated panel discussion on the importance of artistic freedom of expression and free speech.

This project is funded through an Innovation Grant awarded by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

This project is supported by the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts School of Theatre & Dance

and Dance Source Houston's Groundwork Grant.