Black Choreographers Festival Announces BCF SUMMER SERIES, Today

OAKLAND, CA, July 21, 2016 -- The Black Choreographers Festival (BCF) has announced the program for its annual BCF Summer Series, featuring works by emerging and established African and African American choreographers, as well as pre-professional youth dancers. Featured artists include Gregory P. Dawson, director of dawsondancesf; Chris Evans in collaboration with Byb Chanel Bibene and musician David Boyce; Antoine Hunter, director of Urban Jazz Dance Company; Pat Taylor, director of JazzAntiqua Dance Ensemble; Latanya Tigner and Colette Eloi with Dimensions Dance Theater; and Kendra Barnes, artistic director of the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble and BCF co-director. The BCF Summer Series runs August 26 - 28, 2016 at the Laney College Odell Johnson Theater: 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 to $50, with discounts available for youth, students and seniors. To purchase, visit bcfhereandnow.com or call 888-819-9106.

BCF has "busted out of February," exclaimed Festival Co-Director Laura Elaine Ellis. "As an organization we understand the importance of providing visibility to black choreographers beyond Black History Month, and we are pleased to announce that the BCF Summer Series will be an annual event."

PROGRAM

The BCF Summer Series opens on Friday and Saturday with Reconstruction Study #1, a collaboration between Chris Evans, an interdisciplinary artist trained both as a dancer and musician, Congolese dance artist Byb Chanel Bibene, and musician and composer David Boyce. Reconstruction Study #1 is a work-in-progress based on several stories including that of Jim Coble, an African American man who killed ten white people in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in the early 20th century. "The story, passed down through oral tradition, provides a frame for exploring the cyclical deconstruction and reconstruction of African American identity in the U.S.," explained Evans. The work interweaves spoken word, structured movement improvisation and live music. It is set to an original score by Boyce, who performs saxophone, alongside Evans on cello and Bibene on percussion.

Offering another perspective on the subject of African American identity, the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble will perform an original work titled Angst. The dance focuses on the ways in which stress -- psychological, economic, physical and otherwise -- impacts relationships within the black community, and in particular the development of adolescent boys. Since its founding 20 years ago, the company has honed an original movement style blending modern dance with elements from African, Brazilian and North Indian cultures.

Dawsondancesf will perform a new work inspired by the life and legacy of 18th-century singer Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi, otherwise known as Farinelli. Widely regarded as the greatest castrato singer of all time, Farinelli's example raises issues not only of virtuosity but of gender and transvestism, all topics of longstanding interest to Artistic Director Gregory Dawson.

Based in Los Angeles, JazzAntiqua Dance Ensemble is best known for its compositions inspired by jazz and blues music. Under the direction of Pat Taylor, the company will perform a new work titled In a Heartbeat set to music from Vijay Iyer Trio's acclaimed 2009 album Historicity. "In a Heartbeat emerges from our most innate sense of rhythm -- our breath and heartbeat -- and unfolds to reveal intimate connections of the heart," said Taylor.

Friday and Saturday's program concludes with two works-in-progress. The first by Antoine Hunter's Urban Jazz Dance Company is titled All Blues. The second is a showing from part two of Dimensions Dance Theater's The Town on Notice, conceived and directed by Deborah Vaughan with choreography by Latanya Tigner and Colette Eloi. Part one premiered last fall to a sold-out house, and the company is preparing to premiere part two in spring 2017. "The Town on Notice is about Oakland itself," said Tigner. "We are interested to explore the city at this moment of rapid gentrification. Through movement that emanates from the spine and resonates in the feet we call upon the ancestors of the place to rise up and respond."

Sunday's matinee will present works by a number of pre-professional youth dance companies including Culture Shock Oakland, Dimensions Extensions Performance Ensemble, Mkail Movement, New Style Motherlode's "Diamond" and "Sparkle" hip hop dance teams, On Demand, and Sweat Contemporary Dance Company.

"BCF is committed to nurturing the next generation of gifted dance artists," said Barnes. "On Sunday, August 28 we are proud to host a 'Youth Summit' for all the young performers in the Sunday matinee." This daylong event is free for all participants, and will include a workshop led by Oakland-based artist Delina Patrice Brooks. Titled "Choreopoetics," the workshop incorporates movement and writing to investigate conflict, healing and forgiveness. For more information visit bcfhereandnow.com.

ABOUT THE BLACK CHOREOGRAPHERS FESTIVAL
The Black Choreographers Festival (BCF), with scheduled events throughout the year, is directed by Bay Area nonprofits AAAPAC and K*Star*Productions. Since 2005 BCF has served local, national and international artists with over 150 public events, acknowledging the diverse artistic expression within the context of African and African American dance and culture. BCF incorporates live performance, mentoring, master classes, workshops and special events, and is made possible by the continuous support of the San Francisco Arts Commission, Cultural Arts Funding from the City of Oakland, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, as well as community partners Dance Mission Theater, Dimensions Dance Theater, ODC Theater, and numerous small businesses and individual donors.

ABOUT THE AFRICAN & AFRICAN AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COALITION (AAAPAC)

A San Francisco-based, non-profit organization, AAAPAC was founded in 1995 by a collective of artists who were looking to create better performance opportunities for African and African American performing artists as well as produce shows that reflect the aesthetic and cultural representation of the African and African American experience. As AAAPAC's executive director, Laura Elaine Ellis has co-produced successful events such as the Labor of Love Dance Series, The Quilt Project: Pieces of Me, and the Black Choreographers Festival: Here & Now. Funding Awards for past projects include: SF Grants for the Arts, CA$H, The Creative Work Fund, The Irvine Foundation, Zellerbach Family Fund, and The Walter and Elise Haas Fund Foundation.

ABOUT K*STAR*PRODUCTIONS

Formed in 1996 by Kendra Kimbrough Barnes, K*Star*Productions serves as a performing arts presenting organization for the Black Choreographers Festival and the Kendra Kimbrough Dance Ensemble. The mission of K*Star*Productions is to fearlessly cultivate a diverse environment that inspires, informs and supports the evolution of the arts through relationship building, mentoring, exploration, forming community partnerships and presentation. K*Star*Productions has received funding from the City of Oakland Cultural Arts Program, CA$H, The Irvine Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Fund, Alameda County Arts Commission, East Bay Community Foundation, California Arts Council, and The Walter and Elise Haas Fund Foundation.