We Were Fridays follows a story that began in the Griot tradition of West Africa, travels to South Carolina by way of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, then north by way of the Great Migration, and then continues through Vietnam and Japan.

Through deep investigation and collaboration, the team led by Zeigler explores the music of the Gullah community of the Low Country of South Carolina, a community which to this day has preserved more of their West African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African American community in the United States. Gullah music has influenced spirituals, gospel, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and jazz. We Were Fridays extends this reach into the world of instrumental cello music. Told through cello, electronics, film and live dance, We Were Fridays explores forbidden love, fractured lines, and complex legacies and tell the story of how we became…Fridays.