We sat down for a quick chat with Akeim Toussaint Buck about his latest project, Free, a joyful, immersive dance show that celebrates Reggae and its radical history. Tickets are available here.
What role does Reggae play in shaping not just the soundtrack but the spirit of Free?
Reggae influences the way the performers walk, you have to inner stand that reggae isn’t just a music. It is a lifestyle and intrinsically linked to the spiritual motivations of Rastafari. So, it’s in the gestures we make, it is in the choreography, it’s in the costume and the colours of the lights. Even the way I decided to answer this question is reggae and if you know, you know. That is also Reggae, upholding the importance of Bible scripture especially Psalms, is Reggae. Standing up against oppressive states and being true to oneself is, Reggae.
How did Leeds’ West Indian Carnival inspire the show’s immersive energy and aesthetic?
Carnival inspired the immersive energy for sure simply because when you go to Carnival, there is no front to watch. There simply is a world that you are now a part of, and you either dance or you attempt to go home. In Free it gets like this, audiences are swept up into this world and can’t really check out. You don’t get a chance to check out. My mum lives in Chapeltown so I can never really check out of Carnival when I’m there, and I love that; I am always aware of my proximity to the bass, no matter where I am. In Free this is also true.
You’ve described the piece as a quest to transcend borders—what does freedom mean in this context?
Borders are collectively agreed notions that either support or oppress. Right now, we are all being oppressed by borders, and sometimes we ourselves become the Agent Smiths in the matrix, fighting each other over postcodes and political parties that separate and codify us to spaces and ideas. Truly, though we are all in it together and are manipulated by these isms and skisms that become so important to us that we end up killing each other because we don’t believe in the same thing. I find it ridiculous to be honest. In the context of transcending borders, freedom means I don’t really care for them, it is that simple. I know that it is complex but really in the perspective of looking at the natural world, it becomes stupidly simple. Last I checked we all breathe oxygen; last I checked if you cut me or you, we both bleed red. The ideas of nationhood and being patriotic that we currently have have come from imperialist and colonial initiatives therefore they are inherently harmful to humanity because the expansion of empire was one of the most dangerous and harmful things to take place on this great abundant planet. Free dismantles borders by bringing them down to a threshold to be crossed in a performance space. The proximity between performer and audience is blurred, chewed up and spat out for fun, just as borders should be because they are simply now a point of data collection and recording, just another tool of control disguised as a means to keep us safe.
How does original dub music help carry the political history within the work?
If I didn’t write and record these songs for this show it would not exist. I decided from 2013 that I was going to make the music for this show in the dub style and create a story with the lyrics and the tone of the music. That is what I set out to do and that is what we did. You can’t have a reggae show without reggae music; it doesn’t compute. Reggae/Dub music is the root of so much electronic music that has roots in resistance because the sins of the father shall follow the son. What I mean by this is, Reggae’s roots are in resistance, house music’s roots are in resistance, Jungle’s roots are in resistance, Hip Hop roots are in resistance. And the list goes on but what came first? Reggae!!! Therefore, Free’s heartbeat had to be the Reggae Dub world.
What do you hope audiences feel in their bodies as much as in their minds when they experience Free?
Just dance, don’t come and watch and enjoy like you’re watching Shakespeare. When you feel the bass in your chest, respond as you would when you’re out with your friends. The theatre has become an oppressed space too!!! So, let’s lively ourselves up and break the confines of how we show up in the theatre. Our bodies don’t need to look like a professional dancers’ to dance, just let the moves commence whilst enjoying all the show has to offer.
In making this show joyful, how do you balance celebration with the weight of resistance?
Oppressed People especially from the African Diaspora tend to use joy as a form of resistance. Street parties, cook outs, Carnival etc This is the nature of humanity in an oppressed state when it is still allowed to do so. Before violence we will attempt to alleviate the stress ourselves, once the oppressor begins to stop us from enjoying then they are in trouble and that is why Carnival, and the abolition of slavery took place. It is not because slave masters began to feel some sense of empathy, no. They lost money because people were fighting and dying for their freedom. In Brazil, the people hid their resistance in Capoeira, and all over the African Diaspora there are acts of hiding martial practice of defence in dance and festivals, these are means of training or preparation for revolt. Who said these things are not happening right now? Who says this is just a dance show for entertainment and not riddled with messages of resistance? Many are called, but only a few truly know and understand the call to know what role to play in the Darkest Hour. So come and see if you are the chosen ones.