Only Remains Remain

Only Remains Remain uses the structure of a Sophoclean chorus to create an elegy for the hundreds of unidentified migrants buried in mass graves in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Brooks County, Texas. Working with an ensemble of 15 performers, Powell explores the mournful potential of the voice. Through a collaborative process, the work utilizes pitch, intonation, breath, movement, and silence to embody a contemporary tragedy drawn from the story of Antigone. The chorus of women seeks to recognize the lives of those laid to rest as unknowns by addressing the silence of their burial and our complicity and grief in the process.

Between the two Saturday performances Powell will lead a discussion with theorists and scholars around the topic of ambiguous loss, making connections between the ongoing tragedy in Brooks County and the COVID-19 pandemic.

VW Performance at MoMA PS1 is made possible by Volkswagen of America, celebrating ten years of support for performance at PS1 in 2021.

Dance programming as part of VW Performance is supported in part by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.

Only Remains Remain is also made possible by Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.