MCLA’s MOSAIC Presents Baye & Asa with ‘Suck It Up’ and ‘Second Seed’

NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will present acclaimed dance duo Baye & Asa for an evening of groundbreaking performance and film, hosted by MOSAIC, MCLA’s public program for open arts and intersectional culture.

The event will take place on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in Venable Theatre, and feature a live performance of “Suck It Up,” followed by a screening of the award-winning short dance film Second Seed and a conversation with the artists. This event is free and open to the public.

Blending hip-hop and African dance languages with contemporary dance and theatrical storytelling, Baye & Asa create work that challenges audiences to confront urgent social issues through physical movement and emotional resonance. Their piece “Suck It Up” explores the violent fallout of male insecurity and entitlement through dynamic choreography and visceral physicality, while Second Seed confronts the myths of white victimhood presented in D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.

“MOSAIC is thrilled to bring Baye & Asa to campus and back to the Berkshires,” said Jeremy Winchester, director of MOSAIC and MCLA professor of Theatre. “Their work addresses a need for empathy in an increasingly violent society. As we face the challenge of these times, the conversations their work sparks help us to better build the community we want to live in.”