Monstah Black
Composer
Monstah Black is an American born singer, songwriter, musician and choreographer, known for stage performances that blur the lines of genre and gender. He is an Artist Fellow at BRIC Media Arts in Brooklyn where he is developing COTTON, a dance film featuring an original sound score, costumes from cotton balls, and site specific choreography filmed on The Shirley Plantation in Charles City Virginia, just outside historical Colonial Williamsburg, VA. Monstah co-created the operetta Black Moon (La Lune Noire) inspired by the opera Pierrot Lunaire while one of the last Artists in Residence (2011-13) at Dance New Amsterdam in Manhattan.
Smothered in punk/funk, glistening with electro/ pop/soul and rooted in Afro best describes Monstah’s sound. He can be seen and heard along with his life partner Manchildblack in their electro pop duo The Blacks and is also a guest vocalist for NYC based electro dance party band Girls Like Bass. He is the recipient of awards and support from Franklin Furnace Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program, District of Columbia Commission on The Arts and Humanities, Career Transitions for Dancers, Topaz Arts Center, The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, The Field, Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research and is a graduate of Long Island University New Media Art and Performance Master of Fine Arts degree Program.