'Sankofa', 2023

'Sankofa' is a 25-minute performance that took place at The LMCC Arts Center at Governor's Island on July 14th and 15th, 2023. Sankofa, an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana, conveys the ancient wisdom in learning and retrieving from the past to ensure a brighter, healthier and wiser future. The piece portrays a young Black woman who is contending with the voices in her head and her self-worth in a world where the standards of beauty and value do not match her identity. The performance takes place in a liminal space. A waiting room. A void within the woman's mind, where she is remembering a traumatic event from her childhood and processing her experience and thoughts towards healing. Navigating her inner liminal space, the young woman engages in a necessary rebellion against inherited ideals, weaving past and future, and laying down the threads for the rebirth of her present wholeness. Sankofa is inspired by and stems from interviews Parisi conducted with people of color from Brazil, USA, Trinidad Tobago and Hawaii on their relationship with hair. 

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Collaborators: Zamo Mlengana, Shareef Kinslow & Ayana Powell

Directed by: Maggie Scrantom

Costume design by: Raquel Wymann

Documentation by: Natalia Almonte, Serafeim Sakellariou, Paulina Kim-Joo and Roshni Khatri
& Kevin Kim

Cutated by: Sophia Wallace, Drew Denny in collaboration with Allies in Arts

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Special thanks to: Flávia Vieira, Rebecca Barreto, Luiza Côrrea, Dalaeja Foreman, Keith O. Anderson, Tracy Denise Davis Bell, Cris Mariz, Debbie Aboaba, Nayib Felix, Sekiya Dorsett, Shantel Gamble, Clarissa Vickerie, Jawaun Tyler Hill, and Materials for The Arts.