Dallas Black Dance Theatre Returns To New York For Sixth Season With Three New York Premieres

Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) returns to New York City for its sixth season on May 2-3, 2019 in the Ailey Citigroup Theater, located at 405 West 55th Street, New York, NY. The series entitled Spirit of Now showcases three New York premieres of works that encompass the theme by choreographers Juel D. Lane, Tommie-Waheed Evans, and Claude Alexander III, as well as the iconic works of Elisa Monte & David Brown and Christopher L. Huggins. The presenting sponsor for the series is American Airlines.

Highlighting the series Spirit of Now is How to Kill a Ghost choreographed by Juel D. Lane. He also wrote the lyrics set to original music by Quentin EQ Johnson. The work tackles the haunting effects of holding onto something that no longer exists. The dance is a mixture of modern, African, hip hop, and jazz styles set to R&B and New Age music.

Bodies as Site of Faith and Protest by choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans draws on fierce physical language through dance set to iconic speech excerpts by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Evans transcribed King's "We Shall Overcome" speech with body movements capturing the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. The performance takes on added theatrics as the dancers sing during the performance.

Face what's facing you! by Claude Alexander III is an honest, soul-stirring exploration of how challenges to one's spirit can make one victorious. Building on a nine-year career at DBDT, Alexander makes his New York choreographic debut with this work for the full company.

Choreographer Christopher Huggins dedicated Essence to the spirit of Dallas Black Dance Theatre Founder Ann Williams and other women in his life who have "inspired me with their strength, passion, humor, commitment, and unconditional love." The solo work captures the intensity of the issues in their lives.

Completing the program is the iconic work Absolute Rule, a collaborative duet choreographed by Elisa Monte and David Brown of New York City. The New York Times describes the dance as, "...a virtuosic duet with entangled acrobatics that cleverly describes a male-female relationship."

The dancers of Dallas Black Dance Theatre have mesmerized 4.2 million arts patrons across 16 countries, including two Olympic Cultural events, the Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. Most recently, in April of this year, DBDT dancers performed in the Dance Fest Skopje in Skopje, Macedonia. The National Endowment for the Arts designated the 42-year-old-company as an American Masterpiece Touring Artist in 2008. The company is the 10th largest minority arts organization in America and the fourth largest black dance company in the nation. DBDT is the old and largest professional dance company in Dallas.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Thursday and Friday evening

May 2-3, 2019, 8:00 p.m.

Ailey Citigroup Theater

405 West 55th Street

New York City, NY

TICKETS

Performance tickets are $35.

For details visit www.attpac.org or call 214-880-0202.

Discount group tickets for 10 or more people are available by calling 214-871-2376 ext. 413. The deadline to get the discount for group ticket sales is April 30, 2019.