presented in partnership with deadbird, the film, you are offered instructions to engage a public grief altar called can anybody help me hold this body, tended by emory and trusted collaborators, including:

NYC/Lenapehoking, Canarsie, Munsee +: devynn emory, Joseph M. Pierce (Cherokee Nation), 2021.

PHL/ Lene Lenape, Lenape Haki-nk +: devynn emory, makini m. poe, 2021.

PDX/Chinook, Cowlitz, Atfalati, Kalapuya +: Maya Vivas, 2021.

SYR/HAM, Onondaga and Oneida+: devynn emory, 2022.

the altar is an invitation to the public to be in ceremony together, to strategize how to hold a person’s last wishes, and practice grieving the layered pandemics of this time.

instructions on how to create a grief space of your own in another city or in a safe outdoor location near you are also provided. the deadbird website archives the living deadbird project and archive of altar offerings from the public collective grief altar project. writes emory, “let us awaken to the call to grieve as an essential act of embodiment so that we remain resilient and connected to our awakening bodies, and each others.” for more information, visit deadbird.land.

deadbird was scheduled to premiere as a live performance in Danspace’s Spring 2020 season. in response to the pandemic, Danspace collaborated with emory to commission a reimagined life for deadbird.

deadbird and can anybody help me hold this body began in New York, and extended to the cities of Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; Syracuse + Hamilton, NY; and is available to tour. in each location, the altar is tended by a local BIPOC artist honoring the land they reside on.

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funding for this production is provided by Foundation for Contemporary Arts Merce Cunningham Award, Gibney Dance, Spotlight Series Residencies: Snug Harbor: PASS, United States Artists, and Art Matters.

special thanks to our community partners, Prospect Park Alliance, Bartram's Garden, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Colgate University, and SUNY Upstate Medical, and all of the altar tenders (Joseph M. Pierce, Makini, and Maya Vivas)