Save the date! Motion State Arts is thrilled to present Boston-based dance artist Laila J. Franklin’s BABYBABYBABY.

BABYBABYBABY (2024) is a dance about dances about love. It explores the aesthetics that communicate romance, infatuation, desire, and desperation, through shifting physical states and shapes. With reference points ranging from early aughts romantic comedies and So You Think You Can Dance duets, to archival footage of live performances by Roberta Flack and Nina Simone, to obstacle course TV game shows and clowning, the work stumbles through shades of silliness, irrationality, and grief, calling into question the role of sincerity, earnestness, and truthfulness in performance, and the power of physical states—of  exuberance, or slowness, or tenderness, or aggression—to create emotional experiences for viewers and performers. Through its physical acts and overarching themes, BABYBABYBABY seeks to explore how we contend with the precarity of trust, impulsivity, and continuity via malleable agreements and disagreements. It is a work that is interested in companionship and partnership, exploring the ways we give and receive support and care to one another.

Laila will also be teaching a public workshop; details coming soon.

Meantime, find out more about Laila here.

Photo: Cameron Kincheloe