Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE To Return to The Joyce Theater

The Joyce Theater Foundation will welcome the return of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE for the Brooklyn based company’s annual homecoming season. Marking the culmination of the company’s 40th anniversary, the engagement balances reflection with renewal; honoring the relationships and history that shaped EVIDENCE while pointing decisively toward its future. Presented across two distinct programs, the engagement runs February 24–March 1 in The Joyce’s Tino & Rajika Puri Auditorium. 

Founded in 1985, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE has emerged as a defining force in American dance, renowned for its seamless integration of traditional African and Afro Cuban forms with contemporary movement and spiritual storytelling. This Joyce engagement marks the culmination of the company’s 40th anniversary arc; not as a retrospective, but as a living expression of lineage, collaboration, and artistic community. Presented across two programs, the season reflects on the people, partnerships, and shared histories that have shaped EVIDENCE over four decades, with Ronald K. Brown serving as the connective force linking generations through affirmation, vitality, and generosity of spirit.

Program A honors Ronald K. Brown’s decades long creative partnership with Wunmi Olaiya, a foundational artistic force whose influence is woven into the EVIDENCE aesthetic. A composer, Costume Designer, dancer, and visionary collaborator, Olaiya has shaped the company’s sonic, visual, and movement language since the early 1990s. Featuring Ebony Magazine: To A Village, Gatekeepers, Upside Down, and Clear As Tearwater, the program reveals a creative process grounded in mutual trust and shared imagination rather than directive authorship. Clear As Tearwater, set to Olaiya’s music, situates the work within the lineage of collaboration that defines EVIDENCE. With Upside Down performed live by Olaiya alongside two drummers, and costumes reflecting her distinctive vision; futuristic, spiritual, and profoundly human; Program A offers a vivid expression of partnership as both method and meaning.

Program B turns toward remembrance, tribute, and renewal, honoring women whose lives and artistry have shaped EVIDENCE across generations. Dedicated to the late Toni Pierce Sands, former director of TU Dance and a cherished collaborator, the program is rooted in gratitude and abundance. The company premiere of Where The Light Shines Through, recently restaged with TU Dance, explores faith and transformation, while Torch, originally inspired by longtime EVIDENCE supporter Beth Young, channels communal strength and momentum. Clear As Tearwater, created for Pierce Sands as part of her McKnight Fellowship and based on a poem by Brown, returns with its original score, offering a meditation on love as one’s place in the world. Music by Meshell Ndegeocello appears across both programs, underscoring the emotional throughline that connects Clear As Tearwater and Where The Light Shines Through. Throughout the engagement, a rotating group of special guest artists will step into the solo, reflecting the breadth of relationships and artistic exchange that have shaped EVIDENCE over four decades. Anchoring the program, Grace, one of Brown’s most beloved works, affirms continuity, spirit, and shared purpose.

The season also signals a moment of renewal for the company, as many current dancers make their Joyce Theater debuts. Throughout the engagement, artists representing different generations of EVIDENCE appear together, underscoring mentorship, continuity, and the passing of knowledge.

The performance schedule for Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE is as follows:

Program A

“Celebrating Wunmi”

Ebony Magazine: To A Village

Clear As Tearwater

Gatekeepers

Upside Down

Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30pm

Wednesday, February 25 at 7:30pm

Saturday, February 28 at 7:30pm

Sunday, March 1 at 2pm

Program B

Torch

Clear As Tearwater

Where The Light Shines Through (Company Premiere)

Grace

Thursday, February 26 at 7:30pm

Friday, February 27 at 7:30pm

Saturday, February 28 at 2pm (Family Matinee)