Deborah Goffe is a dance maker, performer, educator, and performance curator who cultivates environments and experiences through choreographic, design and social processes. Since its founding in 2002, Scapegoat Garden has functioned as a primary vehicle and creative community through which she forges relationships between artists and communities—helping people see, create and contribute to a greater vision of ourselves, each other, and the places we call home.

“Liturgy|Order|Bridge” Prototype Performances | Christ Church Cathedral | Hartford, CT | July 13-15, 2023

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LITURGY|ORDER|BRIDGE
Thursday-Saturday, July 13-15, 7pm
Saturday, July 15, 2pm (fully-masked matinee)

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL
45 Church Street
Hartford, CT 06103

Liturgy|Order|Bridge is a participatory dance-based ritual that uses Black church traditions and secular performance modalities to make porous the border between “audience” and “performance.” Calling on Black church traditions, a group of core performers  bring guests into a collective score of movement, clapping, vocalization, and witnessing. Within a visual and aural landscape that merges the worlds of faith, nature, fashion, and experimental Black arts, a chorus of local movers facilitates guests into and through the liturgy performance and then into the rest of life. Liturgy provides an avenue by which all participants of the encounter can identify and established shared responsibilities among and to one another, which can then ripple out beyond the performance itself.

CREATIVE TEAM:

Director/Core Performer: Deborah A. Goffe
Core Performers/Co-Creators: Abena Koomson-Davis, Lauren Horn, Arien Wilkerson
Wisdom-Keeper: Jasmin Agosto
Threshold Chorus Members: Chantal Edwards-Matthews, Juanita Harris, Kerry Kincy, Latoya Walker,
Ian Watson, and a growing group of community participants
Technical Director: Maritza Ubides
Lighting Designer: Kathy Couch
Rehearsal Manager/ Producer: Amisi Nazaire-Hicks
Creative Producer: Alexandra Ripp

RUNTIME:

Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance officially begins to allow for preshow engagement, mingling, and a light reception.

The performance itself will run for approx. 90 minutes.

FULLY-MASKED MATINEE:

The 2pm performance on Saturday, July 15, will be fully masked for audience members in order to make the event accessible for folks who cannot be in unmasked spaces. Please note that performers will not be masked. Extra masks will be available onsite.

PARKING:

Metered street parking is available near the venue and is free after 6pm and on Saturdays. Alternatively, by showing your ticket to the parking attendant, attendees have access to a lower rate ($5) at the MAT Garage adjacent to Hartford Stage (50 Church Street, Hartford, CT) and across from the venue. Please bring cash for this transaction. 

ACCESSIBILITY:

The front entrance of the venue is fully accessible. Attendees will be invited to stand for short periods of time and to move lightly, as well to vocalize as a group. 

“Liturgy|Order|Bridge” Community Partnerships

What is the potential of an organized body of practitioners devoted to facilitating the threshold between performance and the rest of life? How might we establish shared (though distinct) responsibilities for the dynamism and consequence of our encounter(s) with one another? Liturgy|Order|Bridge is conceived as a ritualized public ceremony that invites participation at a variety of levels. Through each facet, the project will activate our intersecting identities, senses of place, and commitments to mutual support. Echoing the church, performance and ritual grows out of the human network. Slowness and intentionality are key modes. Woven through the performance work developed with core collaborators—Deborah Goffe,… read more

LOB IN PROCESS SHOWING | COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP CONVENING | JACOB’S PILLOW | OCTOBER 22, 2022

As a follow up to the Scapegoat Garden’s Pillow Lab Residency in January 2022, the Liturgy|Order|Bridge team will return to Jacob’s Pillow on October 22nd to share progress on the piece thus far. Deborah Goffe, Lauren Horn, Abena Koomson-Davis, Ritz Ubides, and Arien Wilkerson will be joined by their growing team of collaborators. The showing will be featured as part of the Pillow’s College Partnership Convening. read more

Reflecting on Homecoming

Birthdays are a good time for looking back and looking ahead. This is especially true for me today as I’ve navigated a rapid unfolding of new and remembered milestones over the last few months. I have wanted to share these moments more publicly and immediately, but it has felt necessary to prioritize deep processing without the pressure to articulate it externally right away. However, as I celebrate my birthday today—big ups to Aquarians everywhere—I feel called to mark this moment with you. In the transition to 2022, I have been thinking a lot about the impact of homecoming on my life and career thus far. As I write this, I am feeling nostalgic… read more

New England Now Dance Platform | Regional Dance Development Initiative | March 18-20, 2022

Co-presented by ICA/BostonGlobal Arts Live, and the New England Foundation for the Arts 

Experience an exciting weekend of dance featuring 18 New England dance artists: Aretha AokiChavi Bansal, Ian Berg, Anthony Bounphakhomshani collins, Sarah Duclos, Deborah GoffeHeidi HendersonLauren Horn, Ali Kenner BrodskyToby MacNuttScott McPheeters, Jessica RosemanKristen Stake, Lilly Rose ValoreAmanda Whitworth, Lida Winfield, and J Michael Winward. The weekend’s three distinct performances are part of the Regional Dance Development Initiative, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).  

Before purchasing tickets to the museum, please note, per the City of Boston, beginning Saturday, January 15, people age 12+ must show proof of a Covid-19 vaccine to enter the ICA. More details here

Pillow Lab Residency | Jacob’s Pillow | January 12-22, 2022

Jacob’s Pillow is pleased to announce eight artist residencies this winter and spring at the Pillow Lab, its year-round incubator of new work: Deborah Goffe, Kayla Hamilton, Ladies of Hip-Hop, Gesel Mason, Taylor Stanley, Ananya Chatterjea, Emma Cianchi, and Irene Rodríguez.

Deborah will be developing Liturgy|Order|Bridge in the Pillow Lab, and will be joined in this endeavor by her core collaborators Lauren Horn, Arien Wilkerson (dance artists), and Abena Koomson-Davis (musician).

Read Jacob Pillow’s December 6th announcement about the Winter/Spring 2022 Pillow Lab residencies.

Provincetown Dance Festival | August 20-21, 2021

After several years away from this event, Scapegoat Garden will return to perform in the 16th annual Provincetown Dance Festival on its newly built outdoor stage at Edgewood Farm. The festival is co-produced by Adam Miller and The Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, in partnership with the Provincetown Theater. 

For ticket information, visit: Provincetown Dance Festival

In Residence | Center for Afrofuturist Studies | June 25-July 2, 2021

During this 7-day residency at the Center for Afrofuturist Studies in Iowa City, IA., Deborah worked in collaboration with André M. Zachery (Director of Renegade Performance Group) and engaged Iowa City community members following our digital reimagining of the Privy installation and performance earlier in the year. View this post on Instagram A post shared by André M. Zachery (@amzrpg) View this post on Instagram A post shared by André M. Zachery (@amzrpg) View this post on Instagram A post shared by André M. Zachery (@amzrpg) read more

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

(Makes approx. 4-6 servings) This soup has been my go-to since an early mentor, Karen Bacon served me a similar bowl of soup many years ago. I’ve since lost the original recipe, and I continue to tweak the ingredients and proportions with each batch. This is an approximation. So, approach the recipe with a improvisor’s mind—activating the tensions between the structure as it has been outlined and your own fluctuating impulses and tastes. Ingredients 1 large butternut squash, halved and seeded 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil ½ sweet or vidalia onion, chopped 3-4 medium-sized button or crimini mushrooms, chopped… read more

on memories that are and are not mine

I can see her walking away from me—white dress clinging on hips swaying, twist of torso in diagonal folds, thighs toning to the incline of steep jagged road, carrying wedding cake atop her head. She is flanked by other brown skinned women climbing hills with cake, one hand occasionally rising to steady sweet cargo. I wish I knew her face. That I could run to catch her, look longingly up into her gentleness, and stride to nuptials hand-in-hand. From a far-off distance—like drone camera hovering—I can see them beyond the crowd of villagers’ (men, women and children): pairs and pairs… read more

on subtlety and militancy:

I’ve had times in my life where I was dismissed for my lack of subtlety—for calling too much attention to myself. For being too big. I talked too much, had too many ideas, was prone to long periods of hyper-focus on writing about talking dogs, and could not contain the constant movement in my body. I was always on. The light in my eye was incongruous with so many adults’ sense of what light my black body should emit. They seemed threatened, and I could tell, but I didn’t care. Somehow I knew it was their problem and not mine.… read more