Photo By Steven Pisano.

Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
Choreography & Direction – Camille A. Brown
Inspired by the television show Lovecraft Country (Episode: “I Am”)
Original Music by Deah Love Harriott, Juliette Jones, Jaylen Petinaud, Martine Mauro-Wade, Frédérique Gnaman, Monique Brooks Roberts
Additional Music by Busta Rhymes, Crystal Waters, Dru Hill, Lil Kim ft. Lil Cease, Method Man ft. Mary J. Blige, Sounds of Blackness, The Temptations
Performed by Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Company – Dorse Brown, Mikhail Calliste, Nya Cymone Carter, Courtney Cook, Brianna Dawkins, Eboni Edwards, Mykal Kilgore, Kai Irby, Alain ‘Hurrikane’ Lauture, Chaz Ryan, Courtney Ross, Curtis Thomas, Travon Williams
Musicians: Juliette Jones, Martine Mauro-Wade, Meech

November 14–15, 2025
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON — A smile can be infectious, and a sorrow shared becomes lighter. 

You would think you couldn’t fill up a theater with the musical and theatrical embodiment of these two sentiments for over an hour, but you’d be wrong.

From the very first beat of Camille A. Brown’s “I Am”, we can see the heart of this joyful dance performance. With each number, the dancers connect with each other and the audience to express the richness of feelings and to celebrate individual struggles and experiences. At times as energetic and tangible as a marching band and at times as contemplative and ethereal as a sunbeam, each number pulls the audience into an intimate moment in time to be shared.

The numbers, which draw on the varied music and dance traditions of the African diaspora, carry a throughline of solidarity in the face of a world that can strip away one’s value and identity. Dancers mirror each other, egg each other on, and lift each other up to give space for creation, acceptance, and understanding. In the few solo numbers, movement reflects the internal grace we give ourselves to grow.

Joy is a tricky thing to pull off on stage for any length of time. Get it wrong, and you end up on a “It’s a Small World After All” ride of forced smiles. This show somehow strikes the perfect balance of maintaining energy while giving the audience room to digest its rich palette of emotions.

Just as with the choreography, the music, lights, visuals, and costumes meld together to create something more powerful than the individual parts. If Alex Fetchko and Aaron Rhyne win awards for their lighting and production design, it would be well-deserved. They use sparse retro visuals and warm lights to bathe the dancers in unobtrusive glows.

Photo By Steven Pisano.

Also powerful was the crisp costuming of Ashley Soliman. On its surface, the outfits on stage gave a simple vibe, with each dancer clothed in white with slight black borders. But in each number, this motif morphs to reflect the varied spirit of the dance. In the first, the featured dancers appear almost in tracksuits; in the next, the lone dancer is dressed for a windswept day at the beach. The costuming picks up the warm glows of the lights, giving the dances an otherworldly feel while also accenting the darkness in which they operate to create connections.  

Most of the numbers were accompanied by live music of drums, piano, and electric violin. One number features a vocalist. There were also a few remixes of recorded songs, as well. While the remixes were good, they could not match the energy of the live band, and an argument could be made that the in-the-moment vibe of the show could have been better supported with just the latter.

But that is like arguing about which wildflower is the most striking in a meadow ablaze with the setting sun. Each element of this show washes over you and leaves you with a wistful sigh at the end, and a trace of regret that you can no longer bathe in its warm glow. 

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