McMiller send love letter to African diaspora

Sekou McMiller performs in the finale of "Urban Love Suite" with Sekou McMiller & Friends on Wednesday night at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. (Photo by Jamie Kraus)

​Sekou McMiller has composed a love letter. And it’s one that anyone with an ounce of appreciation for music and dance can sign onto.
 
And most of the audience did at the world premiere of McMiller & Friends’ “Urban Love Suite,” an affectionate celebration of the African diaspora and the music and dance it inspired. Seen on Wednesday night at Jacob’s Pillow, this haunting, infectious, and flashy creation is honest and authentic, but not without its glitches.
 
There was trouble with the sound system, that at times pushed out scratchy reverberations, and it was frustrating that the floor was not properly miked for the solitary tap dancer, Time Brinkley. His steps often fell silent.
 
But the freewheeling improvisational nature of the program – that was sprinkled through the loose creation – captured the imagination. Truly, one couldn’t anticipate what would come next as the program felt like a stream of consciousness happening where singular artists in their fields from a horn players and drummers along with traditional African and Latin dancers let freely fly their talents. Nothing was held back.
 
The program begins with an evocative solo played on piano by Camila Cortina Bello. Lit by a single spotlight on the dark stage, she is transporting the audience back to a time and place where now only blood memory inhabits. Nayah Merisier languidly appears and moves across the stage as the vessel for the time and place. But just like in the real world – the music and dance are embellished and expanded. And soon the entire theater explodes with a line of versatile dancers and musicians along the aisles. They show that all styles embrace the foundation that Bello and Merisier establish.
 
Once the performers race to the stage, “Urban Love Suite” swings into jazz, contemporary and Latin music and dance, emphasizing the influence that the diaspora has on it all.
 
McMiller himself is a pleasure to watch. In spats, representing the past, moves through the time reminding audiences, with his shoes, that history is the foundation. Eventually, all of the dancers are wearing spats – united in their understanding and appreciation for the ancestors who created the joyous rhythms that we hear and move to today.
 
Some in the ensemble deserve acknowledgement for their extraordinary roles in creating the atmosphere where this message could thrive. Among them is Gleisis Estrada who has the chops for the trumpet and heart with her plaintive voice.  Also, Charlie Garcia is a standout, commanding the stage with his regal presence and crystalline moves.

While “Urban Love Letter” needs to be refined before it hits New York stages, the piece is headed toward a good place – letting us all know that a seed well-tended is healthiest when it is allowed to grow in diverse directions.