Kennedy Center to Present REFRAMING THE NARRATIVE
Opening the week, the first program features the three companies in a shared program of works as well as Byrd’s world premiere to close out the evening.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Mar. 31, 2022
In the spirit of Sankofa, in order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past. Through Reframing the Narrative, June 14-19 with seven performances on the Opera House stage, the weeklong programming highlights and recognizes the extensive contribution of Black voices in ballet.
The artistry and leadership of Black ballet dancers has shaped ballet throughout the United States and across the globe. The history of Black dancers in ballet is rich, yet many voices and stories have remained untold and unheard. To further amplify Black artistry in ballet and shine a light on these key conversations happening in the field, the Kennedy Center has partnered with two women leading this work in the industry, Theresa Ruth Howard and Denise Saunders Thompson, who have contributed to the curation of two dynamic programs with the aim of reframing the narrative.
Thompson, President and CEO of The International Association of Blacks in Dance, brings together Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), founded 53 years ago by visionary Artistic Director Arthur Mitchell, and two companies, Ballethnic Dance Company and Collage Dance Collective, founded by former DTH company members that carry his vision forward, for a week of performances. These three pillar companies come together for the first time to highlight the wide spectrum of their work and presence in ballet today and to celebrate what they have been doing for decades. Memphis Symphony Orchestra's Assistant Conductor Kalena Bovell and Dr. Leslie Dunner, former DTH and The Joffrey Ballet Principal Conductor, will share conducting duties across the programs.
In addition, Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, has assembled a group of artists for a world premiere Kennedy Center commission. The new work, from eminent choreographer Donald Byrd with a score by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon, gives Black ballet dancers who have and are currently performing in historically white ballet companies an opportunity to experience a space where Blackness is centered in the art. Howard and Byrd have invited 12 Black-identifying ballet dancers from across the country and the world to participate in a two-week creative process with Byrd resulting in a 15-20 minute work. This rehearsal period, May 30-June 12, will take place at the REACH as part of the Center's Office Hours Residency program. Chosen by Byrd and Howard and representing various aspects of the future of ballet including artistic excellence, advocacy, and aspirations of choreography or leadership, dancers include: Portia Adams (Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo); Precious Adams (English National Ballet); Katlyn Addison (Ballet West); Joshua Bodden (Kansas City Ballet); Jenelle Figgins (freelance); Claudia Monja (Nashville Ballet); Ashley Murphy-Wilson (The Washington Ballet); Jonathan Philbert (Atlanta Ballet); and Miranda Silveira (The Joffrey Ballet). Additional dancers will be announced at a later date.
"I am honored to be involved in this remarkable project. Anticipating working with these extraordinary artists assembled is thrilling beyond belief and I am so looking forward to it. Much gratitude extended to the visionary Theresa Ruth Howard for the invitation to participate in what is sure to be a memorable event." stated Byrd. "Holding special interest to me is the opportunity to work with the stunning musical score created by Carlos Simon, inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns. The evocative title of Wilkerson's book is the primary source of my inspiration."
As part of this project, a digital resource and learning space on the Kennedy Center's website launches today and will focus on connections between the artists, companies, and legacy of Black voices in ballet. Additional wraparound programming for the week will be announced at a later date.
Program A (June 14-16)
Opening the week, the first program features the three companies in a shared program of works as well as Byrd's world premiere to close out the evening. Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Balamouk. Telling the story of a group of colorful individuals on a journey of hope, the ballet is set to the sounds and rhythms of North African music. The company will also perform Odalisques Variations from the second act of Le Corsaire. This version, conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner, is a contemporary staging by DTH company artist Dylan Santos after Marius Petipa's choreography with music by Adolphe Adam and Cesare Pugni. Ballethnic Dance Company brings Co-Artistic Director Waverly T. Lucas II's Sanctity, a 10-dancer ballet with music in collaboration with L. Gerard Reid. Influenced by African dance concepts and originally commissioned by Baba Chuck Davis for the National Black Arts Festival, the piece expresses the importance of collective work of a community by knowing one's purpose. Dancers contributed to the ballet by creating a statement to serve as a backdrop for their poetic and dance expression providing insight to who they are. Performed to live music onstage, the score was inspired by percussion instruments from American, African, and Hispanic cultures. Collage Dance Collective will perform Bluff City Blues, a new work paying homage to the rich musical heritage of the company's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee by internationally-known choreographer Amy Hall Garner.
Program B (June 17-19)
The second program, beginning on June 17, features a work from each of the three companies along with Byrd's world premiere. Gloria, from Dance Theatre of Harlem, is a tribute to the spiritual legacy of Harlem and will be conducted by Dunner. Choreographed in 2012 by Resident Choreographer Robert Garland, it is set to Francis Poulenc's "Glory to God in the Highest" for orchestra, soprano, and choir. The ballet also includes Washington, D.C. metropolitan area dance students. Ballethnic Dance Company will perform excerpts from its signature work, The Leopard Tale. Choreographed by Lucas, the work fuses ballet and African dance in a high-energy performance about a tale of survival in the African jungle with an original score by Reid. Set in an enchanted South African jungle, Collage Dance Collective closes the program with Artistic Director Kevin Thomas' Firebird. Conducted by Kalena Bovell, the work's set design, costumes, and movement take inspiration from the Zulu/XhosaI culture in South Africa. In addition, Stravinsky's powerful score is brought to life by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
ABOUT DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM
For 53 years, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) has provided access to ballet for all. Comprised of an international touring company, a training school, and a celebrated arts education and community engagement program, Dancing Through Barriers®, DTH demonstrates the power of art to transform lives. Compelled to make a positive impact following the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the legendary Arthur Mitchell started a school with his teacher, Karel Shook. Mitchell's idea was to offer children in the Harlem neighborhood where he grew up the opportunity to change their futures by challenging themselves against the rigors of a classical art form. In 1971, only two years after its founding, The New York Times called Dance Theatre of Harlem "one of ballet's most exciting undertakings." Now in its fifth decade, DTH has an extraordinary legacy based on thrilling performances and artistic excellence predicated on providing opportunity where none had existed before. Through performance, training and education, the impact of Dance Theatre of Harlem continues to be felt across the globe.
ABOUT BALLETHNIC DANCE COMPANY
Ballethnic Dance Company is a classically trained, culturally diverse ballet company that produces unique, exciting, and original ballet performances. The Company was founded in 1990 by Nena Gilreath and Waverly T. Lucas II, both former dancers with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Atlanta Ballet. It is Atlanta's first and only professional Black-founded ballet company, and the oldest in the South. The co-founders envisioned Ballethnic as a global catalyst for social change through fusion and blending of traditional ballet with artistic influences from diverse ethnicities, especially Afrocentric cultures of the diaspora.
Ballethnic's energetic and entertaining repertoire includes tailor-made unique choreography from co-founder Waverly Lucas, David Dorfman, Robert Logan Mayo, Salia and Sedou, and others. Their signature pieces include Urban Nutcracker, one of the first culturally relevant Nutcrackers whose setting depicts Black culture, as well as renowned author Pearl Cleage's play Flyin' West, which was transformed into a ballet production. The Leopard Tale was its second original full-length story ballet, which depicts the leopard's survival on the West African savannah. Ballethnic Dance Company continues to perform nationally and internationally and has performed for major festivals such as Lincoln Center, Out of Doors, and the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival.
ABOUT COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE
Positioning itself as the largest Black-owned ballet company in the South, Collage Dance Collective has worked to inspire the growth and diversity of ballet by showcasing a repertoire of relevant choreography and world-class dancers representative of our community. The professional company has presented 11 full-length seasons in Memphis, plus national and international touring presenting a diverse range of classical and contemporary choreography. Its institutional arm, the Collage Dance Conservatory, trains more kids of color in a classical art form than any other non-profit in Memphis or the Mid-South. In December 2020, Collage opened a 22,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility to expand its programming, training and impact. The work of Collage Dance Collective has been featured in media outlets including Huffington Post, Allure, Yahoo!, The Commercial Appeal, Vibe, Afropunk, and Pointe Magazine.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Reframing the Narrative: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and
Collage Dance Collective
with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra
PROGRAM A
Tuesday, June 14-Thursday, June 16, 2022, at 7:30 p.m.
Balamouk (Les Yeux Noirs/Lopez Ochoa)
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Odalisques Variations from Le Corsaire (Adam/Santos after Petipa)
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner
Sanctity (Reid/Lucas)
Ballethnic Dance Company
Bluff City Blues (Waters, Bland, King, and Taylor/Garner)
Collage Dance Collective
New Donald Byrd Commission (Simon /Byrd)*
Featuring Black-identifying dancers from around the country
Conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner
*World Premiere
PROGRAM B
Friday, June 17, 2022, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.
Gloria (Poulenc/Garland)
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner
Excerpts from The Leopard Tale (Reid/Lucas)
Ballethnic Dance Company
New Donald Byrd Commission (Simon /Byrd)*
Featuring Black-identifying dancers from around the country
Conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner
Firebird (Stravinsky/Thomas)
Collage Dance Collective
Conducted by Kalena Bovell
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets start at $29. Tickets can be purchased on the Kennedy Center website, at the Kennedy Center box office or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.
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