Mast on Fig is proud to present Gregory Barnett’s three-part dance workshop that plays with nostalgia and grieving practices in movement and the body.


”Dances For Dead People And Lost Lovers, or, What This Will Ultimately Be For” 

Prayers to the angels watching over our endings. Prayers to the angels watching over all bastard children of hope. Prayers most to the angels watching over an impossible prayer, one not born of fear. You are a ghost now, and so now you’ll never leave me. Amen.

Cognitive dissonance will become our closest friend. We will complete several offered structures of musical timing and simple choreographed tasks to calmly navigate Grief as the inconsolable reality that it is. We’ll view whatever resulting rage and depression accessed in the dances as alchemical power wells, available to us at will from here on (silver linings?) We will abandon any pressure to strategically pantomime or convey our emotional states in the movement for the sake of external validation. There will be no external validation. There will be no cameras. There will be no videos. We will stop showing people the sad. We will just be sad. The relief of forfeiting all pressures to quantify or share our aching adequately to another will prove sweet. They don’t have to understand anymore. They’re not going to. You only have to dance for yourself now.

Sat Oct 12 5-7 PM
Sat Oct 19  5-7 PM
Sat Oct 26  5-7 PM
Mast on Fig
 4030 N Figueroa St LA 90042
RSVP here
Limit: 15 people per class
$10 – $20 sliding scale

Gregory Barnett makes dances, altars, imagery, and stories believing he is better for it. His work attempts to locate junctures between lineage (memory) and prayer (desire) in an effort to maximize will’s potential (with mixed success.) In lieu of pursuing a sociology degree, Gregory became a prostitute and children’s gymnastics instructor. He has shown work in Los Angeles and other cities since 2004.