Initially inspired by both the 2014 article “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and by the 2019 New York Times series The 1619 Project, the 1619 cycle features librettos by various writers who will focus on a particular time period between 1619 and into the future. Each opera will reflect the predacity of American life—how this country “begins in black plunder and white democracy, two features that are not contradictory but complementary” and how “virtually every institution with some degree of history in America, be it public, be it private, has a history of extracting wealth and resources” out of BIPOC communities. But the operas will also highlight the very human stories of joy, love, and resiliency in the face of that oppression; voices that clamor to be respected as full members and contributors in the America experiment. 

One goal for the cycle, as writer Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz expressed, is “[h]ow might acknowledging the reality of US history work to transform society.” I see my work with 1619 as a part of that lineage advocating for change. Each of the operas in the cycle will feature film and dance choreography and, like the 1619 Project itself, hope to show a number of consistent themes through a series of wide-ranging historical fictional narratives that will reflect the story of America.

​Header 📸: by me!