AMAECHI VIDEO

I’m very happy to share the release of the video for myself and Michael Wolters‘s, collaborative work, Amaechi. Check it out below.

In Amaechi three Birmingham basketball players, three mobile percussionists, and an electronic musician run, jump, shuffle, bounce, and play across the 3X3 practice court of the Commonwealth Games creating an energetic and sonically rich performance that sits in the space between sport and music. This action is frequently interspersed by three singers quoting in close harmony the inspiring words of psychologist & Ex-NBA player, John Amaechi, the first basketball player to come-out as gay in the very straight world of sports. This LGBTQ+ led performance is a celebration of sport, teamwork, collaboration, difference, and the human spirit, whilst also drawing attention to the difficulties faced by queer people in sport, and the status of queer people in 35 Commonwealth countries that criminalise homosexuality, 13 of which punish homosexuality with imprisonment or death.

Performed by: Seán Clancy (electronic musician/referee), Lucy Buxton, Gem Salmon, Joshua Okpoti Nai, Adrian Nembhard (basketball players), Aidan Hammond, Tom Bennett, Andrew Woolcock, Eva Laverty (percussionists), Gina Baker, Gina McDonald, Francesca Fargion, and Helsa Townsend (singers).