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THE DETROIT OPERA HOUSE HONORS BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH
COLOR-OGRAPHY,
A NEW DAYTON CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY PRODUCTION CELEBRATING THE WORKS OF JACOB LAWRENCE
DETROIT, December 20, 2006…In honor of Black History Month, the Detroit Opera House brings a brand new production, Color-ography, to the stage February 10 (8:00 p.m.) and 11 (2:00 p.m.), 2007. The work, commissioned and performed by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), celebrates the work of African American painter Jacob Lawrence, with a visual feast of movement. Color-ography will premiere in Dayton, Ohio, February 3, 2007.
The four-part program incorporates some of Lawrence’s most famous works (The Migration of the Negro, Harriet Tubman, The Lovers, John Brown, Alice and her Tormentors and Wounded Man, among others) and choreography by four of today’s most acclaimed African American choreographers, Donald Byrd, Rennie Harris, Kevin Ward and Reggie Wilson. These artists have drawn their inspiration from the canvas, and combined powerful choreography with video projections and music ranging from traditional Banda-Dakpa from the Central African Republic, to the unmistakable jazz of Sarah Vaughan and the techno stylings of Moby, among others including Bent, Bigga Bush, Amatoso Makaota and Zapp Mama.
Color-ography will feature set and projection design by Tobin Rothlein, costume design by Omotayo “Wunmi” Olaiya and lighting design by James Clotfelter. The Detroit Opera House will be the third stop on Color-ography’s 20 city premiere tour, as part of the company’s 2007 DaimlerChrysler Dance Series. The Sunday, February 11 performance is sponsored by JPMorganChase.
TICKETS for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s Color-ography at the magnificent Detroit Opera House, February 10, at 8:00 p.m. and February 11 at 2:00 p.m., range from $25-$75, and are available in at the Detroit Opera House ticket office (1526 Broadway, Detroit, 48826), by phone at (313) 237-SING (7464) or online at www.michiganopera.org. Tickets are also available at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (248) 645-6666 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Color-ography
American painter Jacob Armstead Lawrence (1917-2000) is known for works of vibrant color, full of energy, life and motion. Perhaps most recognizable are images from his narrative series The Migration of the Negro, based on the experiences of his family, recollections of people in his community and research conducted in the Schaumburg Collection. The series portrays the African American migration from agricultural communities of the South to the industrialized urban centers of the North, and catapulted Lawrence to overnight fame. An astute storyteller, Lawrence’s catalogue of work chronicles the struggle for freedom and justice in America, from the Civil War Era to the Civil Rights Movement, and on to the end of the twentieth century. Today, his works can be found in nearly 200 museum collections, where their powerful imagery inspires thousands of people each year.
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC)
Founded in 1968, by Dayton, Ohio native, Jeraldyne Blunden, DCDC is the oldest modern dance company in Ohio, and one of the largest companies of its kind between Chicago and New York City. DCDC has won national and international acclaim and is renowned for powerful, artistic performances, a diverse repertoire of works by world-class choreographers, ground-breaking commissions of new works and excellence in educational programming. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Ward (one of the choreographers behind Color-ography), DCDC continues to commission and perform exciting new works, by some of the world’s most respected choreographers. Past DCDC commissions include The Flight Project (2003) by Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Dwight Rhoden and Doug Varone and Children of the Passage (1999) by Ronald K. Brown and Donald McKayle. The company, which last visited Detroit as part of the Detroit Opera House’s Celebration of African American Choreography in 2005, has toured nearly all 50 states, and performed internationally in Russia, Germany, France, Poland, Korea, Bermuda and beyond. For additional information, visit www.dcdc.org.
Donald Byrd
Choreographer Donald Byrd, perhaps best know for his Harlem Nutcracker, is currently the Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater. Previously, Mr. Byrd founded and directed his own company, Donald Byrd/The Group, and also served on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts. He has served as a visiting artist-in-residence at Cal State University Long Beach, UC Santa Cruz, Ohio University, and the Ashtabula Arts Center in Ohio. As a student, Mr. Byrd studied at Tufts and Yale Universities, the Cambridge School of Ballet, the London School of Contemporary Dance and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.
Rennie Harris
Choreographer Rennie Harris is the Founder and Artistic Director of Rennie Harris PureMovement. Harris is a pioneer in performing, choreographing and teaching hip-hop, and a powerful spokesperson for the significance of “street” origins in any dance style. His work fuses traditional styles with up-to-the-minute hip-hop moves, creating dance which incorporates gymnastics and acrobatics in a fluid, high-energy style. Most recently, Mr. Harris worked with Judith Jamison and Robert Battle to create Love Stories for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, but his choreographic endeavors can be found in the repertoires of many of the world’s most prestigious dance companies.
Kevin Ward
Choreographer Kevin Ward joined DCDC in 1980. Recognizing his extraordinary talent, Founder Jeraldyne Blunden appointed him Associate Artistic Director in 1990, and in 1999, the Board of Trustees formally appointed him Artistic Director. The 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Masters of African American Choreography Medal, among other accolades, Mr. Ward has choreographed more than a dozen works, and created original music for his own and other choreographers’ creations. His choreographic accomplishments include Mighty Fortress, Sets and Chasers, Job’s Kitchen, Reverberations, Offering to JFT, Goin’ Up Yonder, Love and the Weather, Introduction and Allegro, Etudes, Deconstructed Lives and How Long We Sisters Haven’t Sung.
Reggie Wilson
Choreographer Reggie Wilson founded Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group in 1989. His work draws from the movement languages of the blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas and combines them with post-modern elements and his own personal style to create what he sometimes calls “post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern Dance.” His works have been presented internationally, as well as throughout the United States. Mr. Wilson received a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and has lectured, taught and conducted extended workshops for community projects throughout the United States, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. From 1993 to 2003, Mr. Wilson served as Project Director and Co-Artistic Director of Black Burlesque (Revisited), a tri-lateral collaboration of Fist & Heel, Black Umfolosi (Zimbabwe) and Noble Douglas Dance Company (Trinidad and Tobago). He is a member of Pentacle’s HELP DESK, an advisor for the National Dance Project (New England Foundation for the Arts) and a Board Member of the Dance Theater Workshop.
Color-ography
Color-ography is supported by the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest funded by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional contributions from the General Mills Foundation, the Land O’Lakes Foundation, and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. Color-ography is funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Ford Foundation.
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