Through Dance, dani tirrell Transforms Kubota Garden Into an Oasis of Black Peace

Faint church bells fade in and out from deep within the groves of Kubota Garden in Rainier Beach.

Dozens of people wearing different colored wristbands were chaperoned around the Japanese garden, the wristband colors matching a flag held by their guide. It was the last day of dani tirrell's reimagination of the second of the two-part performance Elysium: Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS! Book II. Its first iteration had its world premiere at The Moore Theatre last year. For three days, Kubota Garden was the stage for an exercise in freedom.

The performance started out as a united procession, with a music DJ and a person painting on canvas. With brush in hand, they let pastel colors drip onto the canvas, which sat at the garden's terrace overlook. Quickly, the groups dispersed and went separate ways to watch dancers in yellow, "The Congregation," pop out from the greenery.

At a giant hemlock with long branches that swooped down and curled up, a single dancer mimicked the tree's movement. She curled her body, hugged the trunk, and became an extension of the tree itself. Further up the path, two dancers appeared beyond the shaded trail, the sun striking their yellow tunics as they danced, creating rhythm with the stomp of their feet. Viewers looked on as if hypnotized, with good reason: With dancers in matching yellow outfits sprinkled around the park, the performance at Kubota Garden induced a dreamlike state.

"I've said this, and I believe in this: I just want people to understand the beauty of this place," said tirrell, when asked about what they hope people take away from the performance.

"If they take that, that's great, and whatever else, they take that, because they've done the work," tirrell added.

tirrell was inspired to choreograph dance at Kubota during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The garden became a place of sanctuary and calm for the creator during that tumultuous time.

At a field below the terrace, the audience groups came together, sat on the grass, and a performance ensued. tirrell appeared, hooded in a gold cloak, sitting at a rock garden opposite the crowd. tirrell watched while a troupe of dancers basked in the light and moved their bodies, first uniformly, then independently, rejoining in a circle before disappearing into the surrounding nature.

After that performance, some audience members followed their guides, while others went their separate ways to see more of the performance. A dancer sat on a rock, reading. Nearby, a reflection booth encouraged attendees to consider "Who are you uninterrupted?" and "What brings you deep sustaining joy?"

Some attendees went to the Heart Bridge, where a performer spoke poetry while watching two dancers strut, one behind the other, across Maples Creek, "Have you seen us? We too fine — say it again," said the performer at the bridge.

"We too fine," someone responded from the crowd.

Unlike traditional dance performances in theaters or halls, Leviticus felt like it had no beginning or end, no right or wrong way to watch. It lacked any presumptuous barriers that sometimes come with the fine arts and yet was as elegant, if not more. It was approachable enough that children who ran around stopped to admire the dance sequences. In many ways, the format itself was free-form, unassuming, and interactive all at once.

"I come here pretty frequently, and I'm actually exploring different corners of it, and I feel like I have a different emotional connection to the garden today," said attendee Cambria Nelson. "It's like I'm a part of [the performance] and watching it at the same time."

A final bell chimed, and instinctively, the crowd gathered again, before heading beneath a canopy of Japanese maples. Dancers moved and danced among the trees while tirrell sat at a bench accompanied by someone singing. tirrell joined the dancers as they exited the grove onto the lawn for their final dance number.

"This piece wasn't built for people to have to deeply think about things, more it was built for Black women, and resting, and Black and queer bodies to just be in this space without interruption," said tirrell.