The Joyce Theater Foundation to Present American Dance Platform Featuring Les Ballet Afrik & More

The Joyce Theater Foundation will continue its championing of burgeoning choreographic voices in the seventh iteration of its American Dance Platform. Hand-picked by celebrated dance maker Ronald K. Brown, three companies representing the best in dance from across the country will each perform twice at The Joyce Theater from January 10-15. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$55, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.

The Joyce Theater's American Dance Platform is dedicated to the memory of Theodore S. Bartwink of The Harkness Foundation for Dance, a Joyce Theater Foundation trustee from 1993-2004. The seventh edition of this celebration, curated by EVIDENCE founder and artistic director Ronald K. Brown, will feature one company per program, with each performing twice throughout the week.

Drawing inspiration from the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, Les Ballet Afrik reflects on the aspirations of a diverse group of dancers in a city beset by health, racial, and financial crises in New York Is Burning. Commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, the piece-much like its source material and inspiration-sees voguing as a powerful expression in the face of racism, homophobia, and the stigma of the AIDS crisis. Former EVIDENCE company member Bridget L. Moore brings her Dallas-based B. MOORE DANCE to The Joyce with a trio of artistically diverse works rooted in African-American and global dance aesthetics. Accompanying two works from the fledgling company's rapidly-growing repertory is the New York premiere of Rose Gold, which envelops audiences with the symbolism of a rose in motion. Philadelphia's waheedworks rounds out the week's programming with its Joyce debut in Bodies as Sight and Faith of Protest. Founder Tommie-Waheed Evans uses Civil Rights Movement speeches and combination of urban street dance and contemporary dance to explore bodies uniting in protest, serving as a vehicle for social change and self-assertiveness.

The schedule for American Dance Platform is as follows:

Les Ballet Afrik

Tuesday, January 10 at 7:30pm

Friday, January 13 at 8pm

B. Moore Dance

Wednesday, January 11 at 7:30pm

Saturday, January 14 at 8pm

Waheedworks

Thursday, January 12 at 8pm

Sunday, January 15 at 2pm

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ronald K. Brown

founded his Brooklyn-based company EVIDENCE in 1985, which focuses on the seamless integration of traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word. The choreography provides a unique view of human struggles, tragedies, and triumphs. Brown uses movement as a way to reinforce the importance of community in African American culture and to acquaint audiences with the beauty of traditional African forms and rhythms. He is an advocate for the growth of the African American dance community and is instrumental in encouraging young dancers to choreograph and develop careers in dance. Brown's choreography is in high demand. He has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Cleo Parker Robinson Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Jeune Ballet d'Afrique Noire, Ko-Thi Dance Company, PHILADANCO!, and others. He choreographed Regina Taylor's award-winning play, Crowns,and won an AUDELCO Award for his work on that production. Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE now tours to over 25 communities in the United States and abroad. The company has traveled to Cuba, Brazil, England, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, and Canada to perform, teach master classes, and conduct lectures and demonstrations for individuals of all ages. Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE brings arts education and cultural connections to local communities that have historically lacked these experiences. Annually, the company reaches an audience of more than 25,000.

Les Ballet Afrik

is a multi-cultural dance company that explores the masculine and feminine energies within different dance forms. Its mission is to bridge the gap between the progressive LGBTQ community and the traditions of the Diaspora, with the hope to bring awareness to the Black and Latino experience within the ballroom scene and put a focus on the importance of community and connection ancestry. Rooted in Traditional African, House, Vogue, and Latin movement, and under the direction of legendary Omari "Oricci" Wiles, Les Ballet Afrik has pioneered a new movement style called "Afrikfusion," a unique blend of dance and movement unlike anything that's been done before.

B. MOORE DANCE

founded in 2018, is a Dallas-based contemporary modern dance company under the artistic direction of Dallas native Bridget L. Moore, who has created a visionary plan of action that is exemplary of her commitment to the dance continuum. The mission of B. MOORE DANCE is to empower and transcend generations through the art of dance by cultivating the arts through leadership, education, and performances. B. MOORE DANCE aims to advance dance and cultivate a deeper appreciation and understanding of the arts, creating a nurturing environment for future artists and leaders through the collective sharing of ideas, and providing necessary tools to be successful in all settings. Moore's choreographic works provide both cultural and kinesthetic experiences rooted in African-American and global dance aesthetics. She has received choreographic commissions from TACA, TITAS, Ailey II, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Bruce Wood Dance/METdance, among others.

waheedworks

is a Philadelphia-based dance company that creates a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. The primary vehicle for founder Tommie-Waheed Evans' creative research, waheedworks brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds, exploring blackness, spirituality, queerness, and liberation. Evans is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow and has received accolades and honors including 2020 Center of Ballet and Arts resident fellow, 2019 Princess Grace Honoraria Award in Choreography, New Music Project Grant, Howard Gilman Foundation Fellowship, Joffrey Ballet Winning Works 2019, and Ballet Memphis New American Dance Residency 2019.

ABOUT THE Joyce Theater Foundation

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for almost four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home threw off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn's Invisible Dog Art Center, and to outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances - both digital and in-person - for audiences in excess of 150,000.

The Joyce Theater presents the seventh edition of American Dance Platform from January 10-15. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$55, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.