The Good News 2022-Current
The Good New Suite is a set of choreographies honoring maker Johnnie Cruise Mercer’s upbringing in the Black Baptist church. Inspired by Bible scriptures orally passed down to Mercer from his childhood, the works are each intentionally crafted to guide communities through the grief of today while leading them towards release.
In service to each space that hosts it, The Good News Suite hold multiple works that are capable of shifting form to serve each community's needs (offering multiple access points). The event can take form as a block party, a site responsive happening, an evening of concert dance, or even a school assembly.
The workings from the suite are tied by Mercer’s 5-year commitment to researching the history of the black Baptist Church and gospel music, and serves as an intimate bridge to archivally ground his family roots.
Allow Surrender Embrace
(A SEL Curriculum supported 15 Dance Work for Young Artists)
Allow Surrender Embrace is a repertory work structured as an opportunity for developing artists to take on, plunge into, and accept the rigor of weight. Etched out over a creative residency period, the work asks young artists to meta-physically question how they carry their bodies while rigorously challenging their amplitude to release. A complicated compositional tapestry of gesture, and moving tableaus, Allow Surrender Embrace titters on the line of choreographic work, and educational community practice.
The work, which results in the creation of both a dance piece, and a book of reflections written by the young artist, requires at least 30-36 hours of rehearsal/residency in partnership with a black educational institution. This work was first mounted during NYU’s Summer High School Dance Program in the Summer of 2024.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
The Unforced Rhythms of Grace.
(1 hour Movement Work) This work will premiere as a part of the 92NY Harkness Dance Center’s 2026/2027 Season.
The Unforced Rhythms of Grace” is a movement work tethered together by a selection of black contemporary gospel songs from Mercer’s childhood.The work follows an ensemble of black movement and vocal artists as they skillfully surrender to poly-rhythm, collaboratively embrace grace, and jubilantly tackle themes of break-through! With a vibrant music arrangement that includes music by Callie Day, Deniece Williams, and Kurt Franklin, the work acts as a sermon on persistence (a reminder that this too shall pass).
The work offers the possibility of pre/post show engagements/rituals as requested by the community. Collaborations in the past have included local black catering companies, partnerships with archivist, active audience documentation alongside area videographers, and photographers.
The Unforced Rhythms of Grace will premiere at 92NY in the Fall 2026. The work has been in development for the past two years through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The program is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. The work was furthered while in residence at Queenborough Community College as a Cuny Dance Initiative 2025/2026 Artists in Residence.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.””
Matthew 11:28-30 
An Ode to Rescue!
This work premiered as a part of TRPNYC’s Revival 2025 in Oct 2025
An Ode to Rescue! is a short ensemble work carrying messages of safety, recuperation, and hope. A lyrical work tethered by a simple, yet meticulous, movement score, the short dance work provides community members a chance to dance through our world’s current tribulations.
An Ode to Rescue may include a community cast of dancers from local Baptist churches in the area. If community cast is requested a one-two week residency with community members will be required. This work also includes the creation of a community book of rescue stories. The work can also be done without community performers with two or more performers.
An Ode to Rescue has been in development for the past two years through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The program is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. The work premiered as apart of TRPNYC’s Revival 2025!
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Mark 4:37-40
Mercies of a Butterfly.
(20 min Physical Theater Solo) Premiered as a part of Pioneer Go East’s Out Like That Festival 2026
"Mercies of a Butterfly" is a physical theater work, performed and created by Johnnie Cruise Mercer. A movement allegory about resilience, the work follows a recently born spirit as it contends with the weight of changing. With Mercer’s meta-physical history at its root, the work spills out as a testimony on both flying through and weathering the storm!
Mercies of a Butterfly involves close collaborations alongside a creative team of long-time collaborators and peers including music producer Young Denzel, film/video artist Torian Ugworji, Horn Player Robert McSweeney, Drummer Jean Charlot, and fashion designer Pierre Rashid. The solo can be performed in untraditional performance spaces, and tours with its own untraditional lighting equipment.
The work has been in development for the past two years through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The program is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. The work was furthered while in residence at Queenborough Community College as a Cuny Dance Initiative 2025/2026 Artists in Residence.
Rejoice; The Sounds of Heaven
(1 hour dance work)
Rejoice; The Sounds of Heaven is a participatory work inviting all members of the community to reflect through song, and imagine what it may feel like to call on "The Universe”. Working with a gospel choirs, praise dance teams, and young composers in each location, the dance work serves as a launching pad, for generational connection and black cultural reinvigoration!
Process for this work will begin in Summer 2027! Please reach out to company@trpnyc.org to support!
“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps”
Revelations 14:2
THE GOOD NEWS ARTISTIC TEAM
