MONSTAH BLACK

is a multi-dimensional performing artist known for his stage performances that blur the lines of genre and gender. Born and raised in historical Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Monstah was exposed at birth to not only the pulpit rocking sounds of the southern Baptist Church and the classical sounds of Roman Catholic Church but also Soul, R&B, Rock, Funk and Disco. His aesthetic reflects this upbringing revealing influences of Prince, David Bowie, Grace Jones and Sylvester. He fuses his love for music, movement, fashion and visual art in his funk drenched musical creations.

As a pre-teen Monstah became the personal high heel stretcher for his mother’s new heels, spending evenings parading through the house in “mothers new pumps” while grooving to hits on Music Television. By 16 he was terrorizing the halls of high school in stiletto boots, safety pins and exercising his desire to be a NewRomanticAfroGypsyPunkFunkDiscoGlamRockStar.

He trained in Choreography, performance art and nightclubbing while in undergrad @ Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Using performance art as a way to enhance his music, after graduating Monstah moved to Washington, DC and began creating performances under the moniker Bedrock Goes Ka-Boom while simultaneously dancing for local dance companies and performing in Nightclubs. Monstah was commissioned by The DC Commission on Arts and Humanities to create his one man show entitled The Acid Box Cabaret. This opportunity lead him to creating a site specific Punk Funk Opera entitled Delicious Hunger, Hunger Delicious, performed in the lobby of The National Theater. The Opera featured some of DC’s well known musicians, poets, dancers, strippers, prostitutes, drug dealers, nightlife freaks and several students from George Washington University dance department.

After years of experimentation in DC Monstah re-located to New York City and chose to focus on producing electronic based music using a Groovebox Sequencer. With a thumb on electronic music Monstah combined musical compositions with his kinesthetic and visual ideas. He began creating otherworldly performances mixing 70′s Sci-Fi, Funk, Punk Rock, Post Modern Dance and physical theater with elements of underground club culture and fashion. Out of this experimentation he produced four un-released albums (This Suite Divine, Black Strap Molasses, Skipping Backwards and Living Outside The…) Choosing to never release the soundtracks, only performing live with the exception of the occasional mix tape that was given to or sold to close friends and fans, Monstah created musical events that happened only once and then disappeared.
In 2011 Monstah Black collaborated with composer Major Scurlock on the creation of Black Moon. Black Moon is an Electro-Funk Chamber Opera that remixes the life of Pierrot Lunaire as an African American male vaudevillian performer. This works creation is supported by the Dance New Amsterdam Artist in Residence program.Monstah has performed in numerous venues including Art Basel in Miami, The Whitney Annual Gala, Smithsonian Museum, Performa Biennial, Joe’s Pub, Dance New Amsterdam, New York Live Arts, Movement Research, Dixon Place, Lincoln Center Out Of Doors, Joes Pub, New Media Festival (Moscow), Performance Festival (Ouro Preto, Brazil), Dance Festival Gdansk Poland, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Eyebeam New York City, National Theater Washington DC, Dance Place, Washington, DC, Philadelphia Fringe Festival and The Brooklyn International Performing Arts Festival. Honorable mentions in publications include The New York Times, L Magazine, Time Out Magazine, Dance Magazine and The Village Voice

Monstah is the recipient of numerous awards including Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program, The District of Columbia Commission on The Arts and Humanities, Career Transitions for Dancers, Topaz Arts Center, NYSCA, Franklin Furnace Fund, and has garnered extensive support from New York Organizations including The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, The Field, Dance New Amsterdam, New York Live Arts and is a graduate of Long Island Universities New Media Art and Performance, Master of Fine Arts Program. He has been the recipient of an international choreographers residency at Dance Omi in Hudson Valley and has returned as a guest mentor.

Monstah in Sogmush Collective's productions:

THE MYSTERIES OF THE CURIOUS SOFA - Lady Celia - Composer/Singer/Performer