Fulfilling its mission to serve as a creative incubator, Fairfield’s Quick Center is excited to introduce its latest artist-in-residence: award-winning, Connecticut-based Arien Wilkerson and his Tnmot Aztro Performance Art and Dance Installation, September 13 – 24, 2019. Three Work-in-Progress performances will take place on Monday, September 23 at 12 p.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m.

Arien Wilkerson is a queer, black choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, director, producer, and installation artist based in Hartford, Conn. Founder and artistic director of Tnmot Aztro Performance Art and Dance Installation, Wilkerson works at the intersection of queerness, queer ideologies, and queer embodiment in practices that include dance, film, music, conceptual art, sculpture, and installation. The troupe creates immersive experiences and strives to connect fine art to marginalized or displaced communities.

Tnmot Aztro features seven dancers (including Wilkerson), a movement artist, a two-person technology crew and a collaboration team that is made up of six to ten multidisciplinary artists at any given time (photography, sculpture, installation, poetry, DJ, and beyond). The dancers draw from distinct and diverse movement styles and traditions: modern, breakdancing, ballet, jazz, West African, and more.

Tnmot Aztro’s work-in-progress, Lovepiece, is a 30-minute dance and multimedia installation, focused on the work it takes to build a healthy relationship with yourself, and uncovering the process of healing from rejection, hate, poverty, and humiliation within black/brown queer romantic relationships. 

Wilkerson was awarded the Connecticut office of the arts project grant (2018), two New England Dance Fund Grants (2017) (2018), the National Endowment for the Arts “Big Read” Grant (2018), and The Director's Discretionary Fund Award from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund (2018), and was selected as NEFA’S 2018 Rebecca Blunk Fund Awardee.

The Quick’s artist-in-residence program creates a unique two-way dialogue between the audience and the artist, allowing the artist to gain insights as the audience engages more deeply in the art form. In addition to the two-weeks of creative time in the space, the artists will lead workshops and dialogues with local youth and community organizations as part of the Quick’s Arts and Education programs.

The three work-in-progress performances by Arien Wilkerson and Tnmot Aztro on Monday, September 23 are part of the Quick Center’s Pay What You Decide program — a social experiment in which we invite audience members to value their own artistic experience. Tickets can be reserved for free at www.quickcenter.com, and after the performance audience members are invited to determine the value of their tickets and pay what they believe is appropriate.