When rapper 2 Milly proclaimed, “I milly rock on any block,” he codified a cultural trend that, alongside other Black social dances like the Whip/Nae Nae and Hit Dem Folks, came to define the mid-2010s. A decade later, the U.S.-born, Switzerland-based choreographer Jeremy Nedd deconstructs and reframes the Milly Rock.
In from rock to rock… aka how magnolia was taken for granite, Nedd and his four-member ensemble iterate on the distinctive rocking arm motion, looping it across shifting figurations. A study on transformation and communal joy, the piece reclaims the popular dance move as an evolving language within Black culture.
Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 at 7:30pm
Location: McGuire Theater at the Walker Art Center