The Divining: ceremonies from in the name of the m/other tree

September 13 - 15 & 21 - 22, 2024

Feverish floods and land-quakes unfold when three mother trees vanish. The mystical and magical town of Here is swept up in the undertow. Sisters Teeny and Vetiver spiral. The people must decide.  Return to their ancestors’ ways or perish with the faithless.

Fresh off the success of 125th & Freedom comes The Divining: Ceremonies from in the name of the m/other tree, conceived and curated by Ebony Noelle Golden, a powerful 3-part series of ritual performances, processions, and visual installations that invites you to experience the intersection of art, activism, and spirituality. Guided by the wisdom of ancestors and the urgency of now, this theatrical ceremony combines movement, poetry, percussion and visual art in a call to reclaim our connection to the land and to each other. The Divining: Ceremonies in the name of the m/other tree weaves together the rhythms of climate change, environmental justice, and the deep roots of Harlem's heritage.

Written, Directed and Choreographed by EBONY NOELLE GOLDEN
Featuring JUPITER PERFORMANCE STUDIO

a call to reclaim
our connection to
the land and
each other.

Leading Artist

EBONY NOELLE GOLDEN
Playwright/Director

Ebony Noelle Golden is a theatrical ceremonialist, culture strategist, entrepreneur and public scholar. In 2009, Ebony founded Betty's Daughter Arts Collaborative, a culture consultancy that devises systems, strategies, and social justice solutions nationally.  In 2020, she founded Jupiter Performance Studio, a space to study and practice Black diasporic performance traditions.   Winner of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Transformational Practice Award, Golden works to incite and ignite the creative capacity of everyday folks in service of liberation and collective wellbeing.  Her practice is rooted in community-design, ritual performance, and leadership development through a womanist and Black feminist praxis. Invoking messy, magical and medicinal processes, Ebony and her collaborators, work to conjure a better world.  www.bettysdaughterarts.com IG: @ebonynoellegolden

Former SOUL Directing Resident

  • Fletcher Christian

    Jason Fletcher Christian Laws is a student of what he learns from cooking, tending to his garden, and traveling around the globe. He applies what he learns to his work as a SAG-AFTRA actor, dancer, choreographer and producer for television and film.

    Website: www.misterlawsgroup.com

  • Zenni Corbin

    Zenni Corbin grew up in New Jersey under thettalented educators of the Newark Boys Chorus School, where they began a rigorous performance arts training. Since leaving their hometown, Corbin has added to their credits roles such as, concert dancer in Sandy Lam's Pranava tour, lead in an MTV Japan 2020 VMA winning music video ('Nan Nan'), and most recently joined Jupiter Performance Studios and Renegade Performance Group as a company member. Zenni currently resides in the Bronx, NY community, where they are developing new work that centers cultivating sacred spaces through performance, visual arts, conversation, gift-giving, and crafting. You can find them on Instagram @zennireach.

    Social Media: Instagram (ZENNIREACH)

  • SHESHE Dance

    SHESHE Dance, as unique & commanding as her name,  steps proudly into her destiny mapped by the stars of her ancestors with intention. She's a 2016 replanted New Yorker, hailing from "the scenic city of the south" Chattanooga,  TN. A soulful vocalist inspired by BLACK music, lyrics & poetry, SHESHE executes with joy & passion.

    www.sheshedance.com

  • Trevor Hayes

    Trevor Hayes is an Actor, Writer, and Creative Entrepreneur. He graduated from NYU Tisch (2018) with a BFA in Acting and BA in Africana Studies. Trevor has been featured in FILM/TV, regional, and NY Theater productions as an actor. Select Acting Credits: Film-BLAXPLOITATION; OFF Broadway- The Last Stop On Market Street (Atlantic Theater Company) and 125th and FREEdom (National Black Theatre); NYC- Clover (La Mama ETC.), The Hunting Season, The Fire This Time Festival; Regional: Proof, Mitchelville, The October Storm & Pirates of Penzance. As a writer/theater maker he has been in residence at Center for Performance Research, New Ohio Theater, a semi finalist for the Signpost Screenwriting Fellowship and more. In the summer of 2018, Trevor founded Black Theater Tribe, an organization and digital platform with the mission to increase the visibility of black theatre artists and work toward making theater more accessible.

  • Sierra Leverett

    Sierra is a talented performer who has captivated audiences in Brooklyn, New York, for just over a decade. Her love for theatre was ignited with classic musical theater and has since evolved to encompass avant-garde works and groundbreaking workshop processes that delve into the depths of Black and queer narratives that speak to her personal interests and expansive abilities. Her ambition extends beyond the stage, as Sierra hopes to embark on touring shows and expand her impact as a visionary curator and producer.  https://www.sierraleverett.com/

  • Rayna Nakai

    Rayna Nakai (she/her)  is an Actress, Singer, Dancer originally from Hampton, Virginia. She is excited to collaborate with Jupiter Performance Studio as Teeny In The Name of The Mother Tree. She earned her MFA in Acting from Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. As well as BA in Drama and Theatre from Norfolk State University where is a proud HBCU Alumna. Rayna is interested in transformative storytelling centering the experience of black women’s past, present, future. Previous roles include Tweet ( Fancy Maids) and Camae ( The Mountaintop). @queenindian_

CREATIVE TEAM

Ebony "Es" Webster | Associate Choreographer
Kofi Hunter | M/D Composer
Jessica Howard
| Vocal coach
Rodrigo Muñoz | Costume Designer
Ray Archie
| Sound Design
Izmir Ickbal
| Scenic Design
Viktor Givens
| Scenic Environmentalist/Installation Artist
Belynda M'Baye
| Props Design
Emma Deane & Graham Zellers
| Co - Lighting Design
Sierre Leverett | Script Associate
Omisade Burney-Scott | Dramaturg
Dr. Omi Osun Joni L. Jones | Dramaturg
Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs | Additional text/Dramaturg
Toshi Reagon | Project Mentor
Jack Meister-Lopez
| Production Stage Manager
Brianna Guillen
| Assistant Stage Manager

Amber Snead | Casting Director

CO-PRODUCER

Funders And Supporters

Apollo Theater, National Black Theatre, Double Edge Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Mercury Store, The Shed-Open call Program, Hi-Arts, Toshi Reagon & Wise Reagon Art, Pilsbury House + Theatre, Green Apu Productions & Central Mesa, New England Foundation for the Arts - National Theater Project, Network of Ensemble Theaters, NYSCA, LMCC- UMEZ and Arts Engagement, MacDowell, Saltwater RoadArtist Residency and Performance Institute, Mumbet’s Freedom Farm, Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, Mondo Bizarro, Yaddo