I Am The Sum Total of All My Ancestors: Adam McKinney’s multimedia dance "HaMapah"

Adam McKinney is "a classically trained dancer and former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet." McKinney's new multimedia dance "HaMapah/The Map.... traces the intersections of Adam McKinney's multiple [Jewish, African American and Native American] heritages."

"I am the sum total of my maternal ancestors from Russia, Poland, Austria, Galicia and Spain. Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Krakow, the Rama, wrote HaMapah (literally meaning “the tablecloth”) to the Code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch. I am the sum total of my paternal ancestors from Benin, Arkansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Beatrice Dailey, AKA 'B. Trace' was a revolutionary playwright of her time.

I am the map, the quilt, and the tablecloth of those who have come before me. While rethreading the links, I consider our struggle to stay connected to each other as I uncover resistance of my non-Black, Jewish and Black, non-Jewish families and what it means to be true to all of myself.

HaMapah / המפה weaves contemporary dance with archival material, personal interviews, Yiddish and American songs, and video set to traditional, contemporary, and classical music."

HaMapah/המפה - A DNAWORKS Production

Hat Tip to YouTube users mermlade for uploading the video.