We Were Fridays follows a story that began in the Griot tradition of West Africa, travels to South Carolina by way of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, then north by way of the Great Migration, and then continues through Vietnam and Japan. Through deep investigation and collaboration, the team led by Zeigler explores the music of the Gullah community of the Low Country of South Carolina, a community which to this day has preserved more of their West African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African American community in the United States.
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Gullah music has influenced spirituals, gospel, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and jazz. We Were Fridays extends this reach into the world of instrumental cello music. Told through cello, electronics, film and live dance, We Were Fridays explores forbidden love, fractured lines, and complex legacies and tell the story of how we became...Fridays.
Cello, Electronics, and Dance.
Created by Jeffrey Zeigler
Music by Etienne Charles, Hannah Ishizaki, and Jeffrey Zeigler
Choreography by Reggie ‘Regg Roc’ Gray
With Program Book Design by sister sylvester
Commissioned and Produced by VisionIntoArt
Developed in collaboration with National Sawdust and Penn Center
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe
This is a private, invitation-only work-in-progress presentation of We Were Fridays. Tickets are not available to the public.
Artistic Statement
“The genesis for this project began roughly thirty years ago. My father was raised by distant relatives in Philadelphia and had no knowledge of his biological parentage and family in South Carolina. He ran from his past the moment he was born. He had no choice in the matter, he was conceived out of wedlock. Eventually, my Dad ran from Philly too. He enlisted in the Army at the age of 17. Two tours of Vietnam later he met my Mom in Japan. He convinced her to run with him to California. That was where I entered the picture. I grew up with no clue where I was from. In the Summer of 1992, out of nowhere a woman named Burnice Perry contacted my father. She was the cousin of my biological grandmother. We became very close and in many ways she felt like the grandmother I never knew. She taught me about my family history. She was a Friday and she taught me that I was a Friday too. My great great great grandfather was a slave. His father was a slave owner. His mother was a slave from West Africa. We were Fridays. Before Burnice passed, I made several hours of recordings of our conversations where she recounted stories of our family. These recordings will be the underpinnings of the audio material which will be contained in We Were Fridays. Through my research, I have been able to connect with a number of family members. One cousin is now retired and living in Orangeburg, SC. The work will include more research, and the inclusion of artists I treasure who I know understand these themes and will mine the trove of emotions contained in this kind of personal discovery. In a way, the work becomes a blueprint for a very American story, one that through all the senses reminds us that our legacies, no matter how fractured, need to be revered, and preserved.”
- Jeffrey Zeigler