Multidisciplinary artist d. Sabela grimes makes it very clear from the beginning that the evening at the Sierra Madre Playhouse will be a provocative presentation that would require the audience to be actively engaged. From the very beginning he moved around the stage conversing with the audience and speaking about Octavia Butler, space, time, a sensing, and a knowing. He posed questions and quickly establish an intimate connection with the audience. His dialogue, gestures, and movement took on an improvisational tone. His admiration and respect for Octavia Butler is profound, and his respect and love of her writing permeates the evening. I found it interesting that while his work is explorational and improvisational, the artist he is paying homage to, Octavia Butler, was extremely diligent and invested in her craft to complete a story that was nuanced, detailed, and as perfect as she could make it. Her many drafts could be seen as representative of each of d. Sabela grimes explorations and improvisations.
d. Sabela grimes, in Jessica Koslow’s interview published in LA Dance Chronicle, describes Parable of Portals as a “constellation of works that draws from Butler’s personal and professional manuscripts.” The production is inspired by Butler’s Parable Series: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. She had planned a third novel, Parable of the Trickster, and had started and restarted but never finished because she passed away in 2006. “Each work is a portal,” said grimes. “Transitions in between drafts are a portal. The idea of portals is woven throughout the work as a method, approach, way of entering, being in and exiting the project. (Koslow, 2025).” This feeling of moving through portals characterizes the narration, singing, choreography, and movement.
d. Sabela grimes – “Parable of Portals” – Photo by Jamie Kraus.
The opening narration focused on Sangoma, traditional healers of Southern Africa, practitioners of traditional African medicine in South Africa. They are accorded much respect as they fulfil social and political roles that are essential for the community to achieve harmony between the living and the dead resulting in a trouble-free life. The reference to being “born in a sac, born with the veil” was fascinating. Another term for born with a veil, an en caul birth, is a phenomenon in which a baby is delivered inside the still-intact amniotic sac is extremely rare.
Mr. grimes sings to move the audience into the drafting of his love letter to Octavia Butler. He talks about “the way she opens us to peeking into yesterday”. He asks for input from the audience and then a series of projections take over the space and 3 dancers saunter onto the stage. They are wearing costumes that appear to be ropes loosely draped over their bodies. The combination of the dancers and projections feel otherworldly. Their movement is soothing and undulating. Beautiful shapes caress the relatively sparse choreography and, once again, the tone is improvisational. The music and movement are intertwined and Afrocentric.
d. Sabela grimes – “Parable of Portals” – Photo by Jamie Kraus.
A huge projection of Octavia Butler, with her words, fills the stage. Mr. grimes comment signals the end of the evening, “Would you guys bow already. I love these people behind me.” A photo of Altadena appears. Altadena was Ms. Butler’s home in the 1990’s. The cemetery where her remains rest did catch fire, but the damage was minimal. It is poignant that the author, in numerous works, anticipated a Los Angeles impacted by climate change, racism, and economic disparity. In “Parable of The Sower” she uses fire as a symbol of change and rebirth. For the protagonist in her novel, fire is associated with death and serves as a catalyst for her to pursue new beginnings. Although this is the end of this performance, it doesn’t feel like the piece is done. This feels like a transition to another portal. d. Sabela grimes clearly has much more to say, and he expresses his gratitude to the Sierra Madre Playhouse for giving him this platform to share his vision and interesting work blending movement, sound, and media.
For more information about d. Sabela grimes, please visit his website.
To learn more about the Sierra Madre Playhouse, please visit their website.
Written by Leah Bass-Baylis for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: d. Sabela grimes – “Parable of Portals” – Photo by Cherylynn Tsushim.
