Mothership
The Mothership trilogy can be experienced as three distinct works—THE PAST – Mothership I (M1), THE FUTURE – Mothership II (M2), and THE PRESENT – Mothership III (M3)—each standing as an independent exploration of Afrofuturism, ancestral knowledge, and speculative fiction. When performed together, these pieces unite as Motherlode, a full-length evening work that travels through spacetime to interrogate Black identity across past, present, and future.
MOTHERSHIP 1
23-25 SEPT 2016
CHOREOGRAPHY
Raissa Simpson
THE PAST – M1 is a 10-minute journey through Afro-futurology interrogating national identity, race, and xenophobia. Rooted in ancestral knowledge and African diaspora lineage, the work traverses space and time, challenging traditional notions of race and gender. Through shifting gazes on slave ownership and revisionist theories of the Founding Fathers, this performance anchors history while reimagining futures—questioning whose stories shape national narratives and how memory becomes the vessel for reclaiming stolen pasts.
MOTHERSHIP 2
22-24 SEPT 2017
CHOREOGRAPHY
Raissa Simpson
THE FUTURE – M2 centers on speculative fiction and anti-colonialism, transporting viewers through spacetime into realms of ritual, spirituality, and indigenous cosmologies. Simpson’s multimedia design draws upon Afrofuturism to channel Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place,” reimagining futures free from racial and gendered harm. Through religious icons and ancestral practices, this work transforms displacement into resilience, offering radical reinvention where imagination becomes liberation—a sacred space where Black bodies transcend earthly constraints.
In memory of Jory Horn.
Mothership II (formerly Dancing in Sepia) took shape at UC Davis, where dancer Jory Horn collaborated with student dancers to birth this Afrofuturist exploration.
MOTHERSHIP 3
20-22 SEPT 2019
CHOREOGRAPHY
Raissa Simpson
THE PRESENT – M3 channels Octavia E. Butler’s insistence on Black characters in speculative futures, defamiliarizing the socially familiar through supernatural shape-shifting power. Drawing from current social movements, this work holds planetary solemnity while interrogating an innocuous yet devastating question: what if society brought the same curiosity for black holes and dark space matter to Black people? Through Butler’s lens, M3 transforms Black bodies into celestial phenomena—planetary bodies demanding the reverence accorded to cosmic mysteries.
PUSH Dance Company’s repertoire stands at the cutting edge of contemporary performance, creating bold works that merge dance, technology, and social justice. For over 20 years, this San Francisco-based company has developed an acclaimed body of work that investigates algorithmic fairness, AI bias, and the ways technology reshapes human movement and spatial awareness.
PUSH’s repertoire reflects a commitment to innovation and equity, creating performances that are as intellectually rigorous as they are emotionally powerful—work that asks critical questions about our digital age while celebrating the transformative power of movement.