A Tale of Fire and Flight is a poetic rendition of the saga of Black Copper, a dancer who self-immolates to protest the encroachment of a fascist government and is subsequently reborn as the mythical phoenix. Creator j. bouey utilizes elements of Afrofuturism, science fiction, fantasy, and social dance to uplift this funky theater project that keeps the storytelling traditions of the Black queer diaspora alive through performance. Black Copper mirrors the rebellious dream of the legend of the Flying Africans who sought freedom, much as this era’s children of the sky seek truth and liberation through disco and house club culture today. This excerpt from bouey’s multi-part SATURN cycle of performances offers an invitation into their cosmology through the physical embodiment of these cultures and an electrifying array of digital and multimedia production.

Note: This performance includes mentions of suicidal ideation, self-immolation, self-harm.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

j. bouey is a 2023 Bessie Award Outstanding Performer recipient, Science of Art, Music, and Brain Activity (S.A.M.B.A) cohort member, served on the DanceNYC Taskforce and the Board of DanceUSA. j. is also the founder of The Dance Union Podcast, initiating the NYC Dancers COVID-19 Relief Fund and The Dance Union Town Hall For Collective Action to support the dance community through numerous world-changing events. They hold a BFA in Dance from Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, School of Music, Dance, and Theater. They will receive their MFA in Dance (Interdisciplinary Digital Media and Performance) from the same institution in Spring 2026. As a creator, j. is a recent 2021-2022 Jerome Fellow and is a 2022/2023 Movement Research Artist in Residence. j. bouey was also recently a 2024 ImPulsTanz | 8:tension Artist-in-Residence, 2023 STooPS Artist was also a Gibney 2021 Spotlight Artist, Artist-In-Residence at CPR – Center for Performance Research, and 2021 Bogliasco Fellow. j. was also a 2019 QAM – Queer Art Mentorship Fellow, 2018 Movement Research Van Lier Fellow, 2018 Artist-in-Residence at the Dance and Performance Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, and a 2018 Dancing While Black Fellow. j. has presented their original work at JACK, Odeon Theater, Madura Studios, New York Live Arts, Judson Church, and more.

j. is currently the Assistant Director, Lighting Director, and Research Assistant for Flow State under the direction of Professor LaTasha Barnes. They also perform with nia love’s UNDERcurrents and formerly performed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and The Fabulous Waack Dancers, danced with Germaul Barnes’ Viewsic Dance, Maria Bauman’s MB Dance, Dante Brown, Antonio Brown Dance, Christal Brown’s INspirit Dance, and apprenticed with Emerge 125 (formerly Elisa Monte Dance) under the artistic direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher, Scorpius Dance Theater and EPIK Dance Company. Determined to manifest the dreams dreamt in their youth, j. bouey is assuming this responsibility because these dreams sustained them when the sun didn’t shine or shone too bright to see.

FUNDING + SUPPORT

This work was made possible, in part, by the Franklin Furnace FUND 2024-25, supported by Jerome Foundation and the members and friends of Franklin Furnace Archive.