Shavon Norris
THE CRONING (solo)
THE CRONING is a solo movement and theater piece from creator and performer Shavon Norris. The piece considers the particularities, pleasures, and frustrations surrounding the experience of aging while Black. It considers Shavon’s bodily change of chemistry while moving through medical and cultural systems that do not prioritize the wellness and wholeness of Black women bodies. THE CRONING invites performer and witnesses to consider what we have learned about aging, dying, and death. And it invites us to tap into existing and new references and rituals so we can expand our imaginations of what it can feel like/sound like/look like/be like, to age as a Black woman body.
From creator and performer Shavon Norris
“I turn 48 this year and I am acutely aware of how my body is shifting. I can feel how my body is changing physically, physiologically, emotionally, and mentally and how that is affecting all aspects of my living. And while this is happening for me, I am also witnessing my elders “elder” in new ways. All of this has inspired me to consider the references, rituals, and understanding I have access to about aging and aging while Black. For example, it is often commented on how my grandmother or I do not “look our ages” and folks reference the saying “Black don’t crack”. However, I am in the depths of perimenopause and my grandmother is in the depths of Alzheimer's. The Black is definitely cracking and I want to expand the references, rituals, and understanding we have access to about aging in Black women bodies.”
“In Western culture, aging women are encouraged to be invisible, quiet, something to be avoided, feared. Looking young and resisting aging are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. We’re not encouraged to embrace the passing of time or our aging. THE CRONING puts the process of aging front and center, and, moreover, puts aging Black women front and center.”