CFA Arts Administration Intern Chloe Jones ’15 talks to Associate
Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton about Dance Theatre of Harlem, Souleymane Badolo, and Ronald K. Brown,
who will be featured as part of the 15th annual DanceMasters Weekend
Showcase Performance on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 8pm in the CFA
Theater, in this entry from the Center for the Arts blog.
This Saturday marks the 15th annual DanceMasters
Weekend Showcase Performance, bringing to the stage the work of four
renowned choreographers:
Souleymane Badolo,
Ronald K. Brown, and works by Robert Garland and Helen Pickett performed by
Dance Theatre of Harlem.
 |
| Souleymane Badolo, 2013. © Peggy Jarrell Kaplan. |
Mr. Badolo is the 2014 recipient of the Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award. Born in Burkina Faso,
Mr. Badolo’s
choreography is steeped in personal heritage and infused with worldly
style. He began his career dancing with traditional African dance
company the DAMA. In 1993, Mr. Badolo co-founded Kongo Ba Téria, a
contemporary dance company based in the capital, Ouagadougou. After
relocating to the United States in 2009, Mr. Badolo won the second
annual Juried Bessie Award in 2012.
Wesleyan Associate Professor
of Dance Nicole Stanton says of Mr. Badolo, “He has his own take on how
to weave together different forms and find personal expression in them.
He represents a growing contemporary dance movement taking place in
continental Africa, one that is blossoming in a really interesting way.”
Mr.
Badolo has performed twice before at Wesleyan — first in the New
England premiere of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Nora Chipaumire’s
visible as part of the Breaking Ground Dance Series in October 2012, and again in July 2013 as the
Danspace/
Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance Creative Residency Artist on the CFA’s
summer series.
[On Saturday, Mr. Badolo will be performing the New England premiere of an excerpt from
Benon
(2014), conceived and choreographed by Meritxell Barberá and Inma
García, and set to traditional songs from Burkina Faso recorded by
Victor Deme, Mahamad Billa, and Dankan Faso.
Benon premiered in February 2014 at Danspace Project in New York City. Roughly translated to “harvest,”
Benon is inspired by the Burkinabé tradition of dancing to celebrate the harvest.]
 |
| Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company |
A second artist with a
rich history
of performing at Wesleyan, Ronald K. Brown returns to campus this
weekend with his company, Evidence. Founded by Mr. Brown in 1985, the
Brooklyn-based contemporary dance ensemble honors the human experience
in the African diaspora through dance and storytelling. Their work fuses
traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and often
incorporates spoken word.
“There’s this sense of seamless flow in
how he weaves together different movements,” says Ms. Stanton, who’s
been following their work since the mid-1990s. “There’s something
transcendent about him and his dancers.”
On Saturday, Evidence will perform
Come Ye
(2002), an original work by Mr. Brown set to the music of Nina Simone
and Fela Kuti, which had been commissioned by the Center for the Arts in
honor of the 30th anniversary of the CFA during the 2003-2004 season
[the work received its New England premiere on the Breaking Ground Dance
Series in February 2004.]
Mr. Brown has been a strong advocate
for the growth of an African-American dance community throughout his
career, a community to which the Dance Theatre of Harlem has made
invaluable contributions.
 |
Dance Theatre of Harlem, "New Bach."
Photo by Rachel Neville. |
Co-founded
in 1969 by acclaimed ballet instructor Karel Shook and the New York
City Ballet’s first African-American principal dancer Arthur Mitchell,
Dance Theatre of Harlem became the first ballet company in America
comprised entirely of black dancers. The company has since toured to
over 40 countries on 6 continents. Dance Theatre of Harlem encompasses a
leading arts education center, founded shortly after the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a mission to make dance accessible
to all children in New York City, and specifically in Harlem, where Mr.
Mitchell grew up.
[Dance Theatre of Harlem will be performing the Connecticut premieres of both
New Bach
(1999) a witty confection of urban post-modern neoclassicism
choreographed by Robert Garland and set to music by Johann Sebastian
Bach; and choreographer Helen Pickett’s passionate duet
When Love
(2012), a journey of discovery as a man and a woman open themselves to
the tenderness and wonder of the human embrace, set to music by Philip
Glass. This performance at Wesleyan will be the first appearance by
Dance Theatre of Harlem in Connecticut since December 2003 at Foxwoods
Resort Casino.]
Currently under the artistic directorship of
Virginia Johnson,
a founding member of Dance Theatre of Harlem and former principal
dancer, the company continues to expand its community and education
outreach efforts both nationally and internationally with their program
Dancing Through Barriers.
And dancing through barriers is
precisely what the work of Mr. Badolo, Mr. Brown, and the Dance Theatre
of Harlem does. It is their ability to gracefully meld dance forms from
disparate places, traditions, and eras that unites their work.
As Ms. Stanton phrased it, “There’s a fusion of techniques from across the African diaspora.”
They
dance across borders and choreograph in the space between past and
present, drawing from history and tradition to propel contemporary dance
forward.
“The performance makes you ask a question about
tradition,” says Ms. Stanton. “What do we mean when we say something is
‘traditional’ or not? What does it mean to be ‘contemporary’?”
15th annual DanceMasters Weekend Saturday, March 8 & Sunday, March 9, 2014
Showcase Performance Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 8pm
CFA Theater
$28 general public; $24 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $8 Wesleyan students
Master Classes
Thirteen Master Classes will provide an opportunity for intermediate to
advanced dance students and dance professionals to explore diverse
dance techniques. Asterisks (*) denote the four teachers who will be
teaching their first DanceMasters Weekend Master Class at Wesleyan in
2014.
On Saturday, March 8, Master Classes will be taught by the following six teachers:
Brandon "Peace" Albright (Artistic Director of
Illstyle & Peace Productions, teaching a Hip Hop Master Class)
*
Souleymane Badolo
(the 2014 Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award recipient,
teaching "Souleymane Badolo Repertory: A New Voice in African Dance")
Ronald K. Brown (Artistic Director of
Evidence Dance Company)
*
Michelle Dorrance (Artistic Director of
Dorrance Dance/New York, teaching a Tap Master Class)
*
Virginia Johnson (Artistic Director of
Dance Theatre of Harlem)
Eddie Taketa (
Doug Varone & Dancers)
On Sunday, March 9, Master Classes will be taught by the following seven teachers:
*
Maria Bauman (Associate Artistic Director of
Urban Bush Women)
Brian Brooks (Artistic Director of
Brian Brooks Moving Company)
Bill Hastings (
Broadway veteran, teaching a Jazz Dance Master Class)
Carolyn Kirsch (Broadway veteran, teaching "Never Stop Moving: A Fosse-Style Jazz Workshop for Older Dancers")
Ryoko Kudo (
Limón Dance Company)
Nicholas Leichter (Artistic Director of
Nicholas Leichter Dance)
Aubrey Lynch (
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
To see the full Master Class schedule, please
click here.
DanceMasters Weekend Master Classes are $19 per class for the general
public (plus a $6 registration fee), and $13 per class for Wesleyan
students. A Weekend Pass, which includes five Master Classes and one
ticket to the Showcase Performance, is $100 for the general public (plus
a $6 registration fee), and $73 for Wesleyan students. To register for
Master Classes, or to purchase a Weekend Pass, please call or visit the
Wesleyan University Box Office at 860-685-3355.
