West Chester Dance Works presents Rachel Harris: One Woman Over the Line

Born into slavery in Maryland, Harris liberated herself twice before settling in Canada. WCDW premiered the dance in 2008, and Main Line Today published a piece about Harris in 2015. Rachel Harris incorporates narration, historical documents, and archival images to convey what Matthews called “the struggle before the freedom.” Her curtain notes highlighted the significance of borders, as Matthews pointed out that Pennsylvania, a free state, shared borders with two slave states (Maryland and Delaware) during Harris’s lifetime.

The sweetness of shared freedom

Rooted in local history, Rachel Harris remains a vibrant, relevant dance. This is a testament to Matthews’s concept and vision, which coalesces into a work honoring a courageous local Black woman and those who helped her on the way to freedom. The program notes describe them as “people who followed their conscience to do what they believed was right,” defying the political climate for another’s sake. Violence and dehumanization are parts of Harris’s story, but the piece focuses on the joy of freedom and the sweetness of sharing it.

The music reflected this, with selections including songs like “Oh Freedom!” and “Stand Still, Jordan” and artists like Bobby McFerrin and Ruth Naomi Floyd. Senfuab Stoney provided live percussion, while Dr. Sara C. Blanford and the Chancel Choir of Grace Baptist Church of Germantown contributed stirring live vocals. The movement paralleled the music, with swirling arms and leaps capturing the indomitable human spirit. Harris came to West Chester after escaping from Maryland and Mort Cunningham, who had enslaved her there. She married Isaac, a free Black man, and they lived on Miner Street, where she took in laundry while he worked in the brickyard.

Harris said she would prefer to be torn apart than return to slavery, so we can only imagine how she felt when Cunningham arrived in West Chester to claim his “property”. Or when she evaded him by scaling a seven-foot fence and running to Mrs. Worthington, her client and neighbor, for shelter. Or when Harris crossed the border into Canada to become truly free from Cunningham and the American laws denying her personhood. Dancers Jerry Nathaniel Betts, Isabella Brun, Susannah Lijoi, Candace Matthews-Bass, Adam Nsereko, and Rachael Smith seemed to channel the feeling of liberation, which radiated from their beaming faces.

An important work

The dancers rose to the task of portraying historical figures, composite characters, and abstract concepts. When Harris faced return to Maryland, the ensemble’s rhythmic movements suggested each character’s role in the larger American systems making it possible for a man like Cunningham to claim, control, and use a woman like Harris. Regardless of their feelings about the system, all of the people played parts in it, like cogs in a machine.

In the lead role, Smith translated unthinkable experiences occurring nearly 200 years ago into resonant images and feelings. Brun shone as Mrs. Worthington, imbuing her duet with Smith with her character’s journey from confusion and doubt to fear and trust. Betts rose to the challenge of portraying Cunningham without reducing the character to a melodrama villain. The choreography reinforced this, emphasizing Harris’s struggle rather than lingering on salacious violence in the manner of so many movies depicting this time in American history. Harris’s capture is shown as a physical restraint, with violence intimated only when Cunningham raised a threatening hand. Instead, Rachel Harris emphasizes Harris’s flight and freedom. Movement reflected fleeing figures reminiscent of the visual art of Kara Walker and chugging trains that evoked the symbolic railway leading to liberty.

My heart soared when Rachel Harris concluded in a vibrant celebration drawing from African dance, and I wondered why this outing at the Performance Garage was my first time seeing this work. Despite a distance of only 40 miles, West Chester can seem like a world away from Philadelphia. A unique work of dance theater with powerful themes relating to the past and the present, WCDW’s Rachel Harris is an important and moving work that deserves a wider audience.