Centre County community members and performers from Sydnie L. Mosley (SLM) Dances will take the stage in the multimedia installation, “What Does PURPLE Sound Like?” at Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium Feb. 2-4.
Artistic executive director, Sydnie L. Mosley, and her team began developing this production in March 2023, by engaging with Centre County community members. Through shared meals and storytelling workshops, SLM Dances explored the meaning of a shared community between older people and the university population.
“Something that we have uncovered in this process is the importance of feeling understood, feeling respected and feeling really heard and seen visible as a part of this community," Mosley said.
“What Does PURPLE Sound Like?” is a part of the larger work, PURPLE, which is a multi-project universe developed by Mosley eight years ago. The series focuses on highlighting “the power of deep sisterhood for social change through storytelling and movement.”
Coming into the theatre, attendees — who they call “witness participants” — will enter the stage, where they can interact with performers, view portraits of locals and explore quilts and textiles of previous productions. Through this participatory design, Mosley hopes to draw attendees into the art and spark meaningful conversations.
“I hope PURPLE offers folks an experience of healing, permission and joy," Mosley said. "You might not get all three, but maybe you get a little taste of one of those things when you participate in the PURPLE experience."
Bringing this series to Centre County, Mosley said she is excited to hear back from people who experience this installation.
Mosley was inspired to develop PURPLE after attending a series of artistic events that were attended by many Black women, and featured their work.
“There was this love, a certain kind of atmosphere of love, fellowship, and joy that we felt every time we went to these events,” Mosley said. “We started calling those events ‘purple,’ borrowing that idea of a sisterhood in love and fellowship from Alice Walker’s novel ‘The Color Purple.’”
Previous works include installations in New York City and Washington D.C.