TRIBE presents the 10th-anniversary celebration of BLACK VELVET, the award-winning live performance created by Shamel Pitts.

BLACK VELVET is a dovetailing of texture, beauty, delicacy, and power within “a poetics of being” (Kevin Quashie). A deeply reflective performance, it explores the colorfulness of Blackness—especially in regard to Black women—through a relationship of camaraderie, consolation, and compassion.

Originally premiering on November 11, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, BLACK VELVET toured internationally across nine countries between 2017 and 2020. This transformative tour served as the foundational blueprint for TRIBE, the multidisciplinary performing arts collective founded by Pitts in 2019. BLACK VELVET will remount Fall of 2026 in residency at PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance.

A 10th-anniversary performance run will take place in New York City at The Flea Theater on November 19-21 2026.

ARTISTIC TEAM

Founding Artistic Director, Concept Direction & Choreographer: Shamel Pitts

Performers: Channce Williams, Ke’ron J. Wilson

Artistic Production Manager: Sarai Frazier

Video Light & Mapping Designer: Lucca Del Carlo

Costume Designer: Errin Shin, David Gap

Audio: Ed Côrtes

Graphic Design: Idan Epshtein

Photographer & Videographer: Itai Zwecker

Artistic Administrator: E Katrina Lewis

Managing Director: Seta Morton

Development Director: Eric Umble

Digital Creative & Development Associate: Pam Panozzo

Press Agent: Kamila Slawinski

Worldwide Bookings: Lotus Arts Management, Sophie Myrtil-McCourty, sophie@lotusartsmgmt.com

FUNDING & CREDITS

BLACK VELVET 10th Anniversary Re-Premiere is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, SHS Foundation, The Harkness Foundation For Dance, Arison Arts Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York Community Trust, TRIBE’s individual donors, and our Board of Directors. To view TRIBE's complete list of supporters visit itsatribe.org/support.

This project has been supported by a developmental residency from PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance and Performance Space New York.

BLACK VELVET premiere in 2016 in São Paulo was made possible with the commissioning, production, performance, and creative direction support of Mirelle Martins, with the collaboration of Lucca Del Carlo, Mauricio Pisani, Raoni Maddalena, Anna Zêpa, Robson Simon, Carolina Garcia Marques, and the support of São Paulo Dance Company (SPCD), Escola de Dança de São Paulo, Teatro Sergio Cardoso, Liliane de Grammont, Susana Yamaguchi, and Carolina Amares.

International Tour from 2017-2020 Artistic Team includes Naomi Maaravi, Derek Van Heel, and Elizabeth Schmuhl.

TRIBE is a Brooklyn, New York based multidisciplinary arts collective founded by award-winning choreographer Shamel Pitts in December 2019.

TRIBE’s mission is to cultivate a space of discovery and a platform for artists – most specifically artists of color – with huge inspiration from the Afrofuturism movement. This movement states that we have a responsibility through our work to tell new stories and create a brighter future that is different, and shines more luminously, from our past.

TRI314 Multidisciplinary Visual Performances is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization; EIN 84-2837277

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BLACK VELVET Re-Premiere: 10th Anniversary

The Flea Theater | November 19–21, 2026