I see Baba Joe first.
His pounding, rhythmic drumming alongside musician Paul Lucas transports me back to the wide, echoing hallways of Temple University, 15 years ago. I didn’t expect to be swept away in the first minute of The Sankofa Journey by Jazlyn Tan, but it seems fitting. After all, Sankofa means “to go back and fetch what’s left behind.”
After three “profoundly transformative” years in Philadelphia, Tan is returning to Singapore in three days, carrying with her a broad swath of connections, experiences, growth, setbacks, and community. The last one was on full display for this show at the Performance Garage, a poignant myriad of short (under five-minute) pieces unfolding rapidly. They featured dancers from Tan’s artistic life in Philly, from Sharp Dance Company and Terraformers, to the enduring underpulse of the late Dr. Kariamu Welsh’s Umfundalai, a contemporary African dance technique that Tan studied. Welsh’s legacy of Umfundalai glowed throughout, including in the works of Julian Darden.
Because this evening was a varied mix of brief dances—which each felt like “sips of stories,” and I wonder if any are part of longer works—this review will reflect the brevity and quick encapsulation of each one.
1 – Breath soundscapes, beholden and in sync with the music
2 – A solo’ed liquid spine with gorgeous control by Mackenzie Barnett-Mcnab
3 – Interconnected webs of six dancers, red puzzle pieces fitting together. All the running in place, but staying put.
4 – Violins and taut limbs (violimbs), lifts to music to darkness
5 – Clear-as-springwater duet by/featuring Julian Darden with a wonderfully articulate Damaris Williams. Loud and subtle together, widely embraced by the audience.
6 – Eased piano, seven soft silhouettes
7 – Quiet magic. It’s built like a snowball, the stage eaten up by Nadia Ureña*, so deceptively technically challenging with spirals and falls and recovers. Blink, and you’ll miss it.
8 – SILENCE. Five. Then: Musicality and exactitude. Industrial, brown, and black and rust soundscape. Liquid mercury. Elemental.
Intermission/But not really/An Introduction to Umfundalai/A fast-clicking PowerPoint/The audience participates, gleefully, to a demonstration by Darden and Tan/They show/We Respond/Now the audience is *a part of* this energy and pulse/Invigorated for the second half.
1 – post-intermission duet, soft skeletons
2 – A welcome, sparkled, quirky solo from Michaela Delanie Guthrie. Long limbs. Whimsy-filled fingers.
3 – Tan’s farewell solo, a “love letter in motion,” by Darden. It harkens to Dr. Kariamu Welsh. Even silence is filled to the brim. Is Tan’s legacy in Philly a connective tissue to Singapore? Easy, loose, breezy, and heartfelt.
4 – “Be unapologetically you.”
5 -The focus is the focus of the dancers with one another: eyes full of gratitude, sadness. An acknowledgement “this may be the last time.”
The crowd erupts. Tan shares, “This is both a farewell offering and a love letter to a city that has profoundly transformed me. The Sankofa Journey is not an ending, but a return—a moment of remembrance before stepping forward.”
Based on the audience and cast enthusiasm, one thing is certain: Tan has a shimmering future. Whether in Singapore or Philadelphia, this show displays her adeptness at bridging community with opportunity and growth, all with an easeful sense of humor.
After the bows and hugs and applause, Tan takes a photo of herself, with the dancers, with the guest artists, with the entire Performance Garage. Everyone is included. I sense the dancers—and Philadelphia audience—would welcome Tan back, fetch her, in a future life chapter.
The Sankofa Journey, Jazlyn Tan, Performance Garage, July 11th.
The Sankofa Journey Main Cast: Adrianna Oliver, Alicia Mears, Jena Barton, Karly Meehan, Mackenzie Barnett-Mcnab, Michaela Delaney Guthrie, Nadia Ureña, Shannon Leary
*Nadia Ureña is a staff writer at thINKingDANCE
