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# Joséphine Baker's Life Reimagined at the Metropolitan Museum
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/josephine-bakers-life-reimagined-at-the-metropolitan-museum/
- Published: 2019-01-09T17:05:48.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:09:09.000Z
- Description: Julia Bullock, soprano, plays the singer and activist Joséphine Baker in a chilling performance in the museum's Great Hall.
- Author: Deena ElGenaidi
- Tags: Art, Claudia Rankine, Events, Metropolitan Museum of Art, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:34 (2019, 2020, part 1)

![Julia Bullock (photo by Kevin Yatarola)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2019/01/photo-by-kevin-yatarola.jpg)

Julia Bullock (photo by Kevin Yatarola)

On the steps of the [Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Great Hall](https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/bullock-19-5?eid=405757&ref=hyperallergic.com), Julia Bullock will play a reimagined Joséphine Baker in a dark and “intimate consideration of the life and legacy of the famous singer, activist, and cultural icon.”

The performance, titled *Perle Noire*, or “black pearl,” was conceived by Peter Sellars and features Bullock as soprano alongside the new music collective International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), with composer Tyshawn Sorey on percussion and piano. Directed by Zack Winokur and choreographed by Michael Schumacher, the work will also feature text by poet Claudia Rankine.

The first performance of *Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine* takes place on Wednesday, January 16, with another on [Thursday, January 17](https://rsecure.metmuseum.org/events/405777?ref=hyperallergic.com). Tickets to the event also include museum admission. More information can be found [here](https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/bullock-19-5?eid=405757&ref=hyperallergic.com).

**When:** Wednesday, January 16, 8pm and Thursday, January 17, 8pm

**Where:** The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Great Hall, 1000 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan