← Selected Works  ·  Choreography

Enter Race

A duet with Cynthia McLaughlin, created on a Local Dance Commission from the Kennedy Center, set to an original score by composer Jeffrey Mumford.

“The dance explores the limitations of race as a social construct and its effect on interracial relationships.”

— Mary Tisa, DanceView Times (2003)
VideoEnter Race — excerpt · 2:44Watch on YouTube ↗

Enter Race — excerpt · 2:44

Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin glancing back over their shoulders
Year 2003Disciplines Dance, PerformancePhotography Todd Clark

Enter Race is a duet for myself and Cynthia McLaughlin, commissioned through the Kennedy Center's Local Dance Commission Project and set to an original score by Jeffrey Mumford. The work moves between charged closeness and confinement — hands, faces, and a wire cylinder that holds and separates the two dancers.

Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race — Boris Willis and Cynthia McLaughlin
Enter Race poster — Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, September 17 & 18 2003
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, September 17 & 18, 2003. Photo: Todd Clark.
boris willis moves concert poster — Dance Place, Washington, DC
boris willis moves at Dance Place, Washington, DC.