Yasmin Spiro: Cornerstone Performance at Hyde Park Art Center – Chicago, IL

Cornerstone Performance: a collaboration between Neila Ebanks and Yasmin Spiro, performed by Shavaughn Byndloss
Thursday, October 9, 6 PM

Cornerstone is an exhibition by Yasmin Spiro at Hyde Park Art Center that explores the relationship between land, architecture, memory, and the body. Rooted in the landscape and built environment of Jamaica, the work reflects on how place shapes identity, and how the structures around us—both built and inherited—hold histories of belonging, displacement, and return.

This live performance, created in collaboration with Jamaican choreographer Neila Ebanks and performed by Shavaughn Byndloss, extends the exhibition’s themes through movement, sound, and sculptural form. The performance considers how we interact with land and architectural environments—how those spaces are shaped by memory, history, and systems of access.

Sculptural forms made specifically for the performance are activated by Byndloss—leaned on, circled, gathered, repositioned—creating a shifting conversation between body and built form. The movement draws from traditional and contemporary Jamaican dance vocabularies, reflecting Ebanks’ and Byndloss’s deep engagement with the cultural and political histories embedded in movement. A layered soundscape of field recordings and live drumming grounds the piece in place and time.

About Neila Ebanks:
Neila Ebanks is a Jamaican choreographer, performer, and educator. She is co-founder of Enkompane and Director of Studies, Dance, at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Her work explores the intersections of movement, culture, and the social and political histories embedded in the body.

About Shavaughn Byndloss:
Shavaughn Byndloss is a Jamaican dancer, choreographer, and teacher. A senior member of L’Acadco and PLIÉ for the Arts, he has performed locally and internationally, receiving recognition including the Rex Nettleford Award and the Actor Boy Award for Outstanding Choreography. He recently made his choreographic debut with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC), premiering Home, a work exploring roots, identity, and belonging.