REDCAT Presents Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theatre's BEAUTIFUL ME
REDCAT proudly presents the West Coast premiere of Beautiful Me, a solo tour de force called "A brilliant, beautiful piece," by Business Day (South Africa), performed by one of South Africa's leading choreographers, Gregory Maqoma. As part of Maqoma's debut North American tour, Beautiful Me opens Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at REDCAT and runs for a limited four-night engagement through Saturday, October 25, 2009.
A global fusion of rousing live music sets the pace for this acclaimed work by exquisite dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma, a bright star in South Africa's dance and theater scene. As he performs to a soaring score for sitar, violin, cello and percussion, Maqoma unspools the personal journey--and larger social history--through which he discovered his own rich theatrical form.
For Beautiful Me, Maqoma invited three of the world's most refreshing and articulate choreographers to contribute their unique artistic voices--Akram Khan (U.K.); Faustin Linyekula (D.R. of the Congo), seen at REDCAT in 2007; and Vincent Mantsoe (South Africa)--forging an expansive movement vocabulary that layers the influences of contemporary Kathak, Afro-fusion, and visual dance theater with breathtaking precision and lyrical warmth.
The internationally acclaimed production plays out as a series of conversations, incorporating "minutes" of movement, music and text into a heartfelt self-portrait and a kinetic reflection on African identity. Brought to the U.S. by MAPP International Productions, Beautiful Me has additional performance dates at Bates Colleges (October 16), VSA Arts New Mexico (October 30-31), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (November 5-7), Seattle Theater Group (November 13-14), and Miami Dade College (November 20-21).
The debut U.S. tour of Beautiful Me is produced by MAPP International Productions in association with The Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium. The performances at REDCAT are funded in part with generous support from The George and MaryLou Boone Fund for Artistic Advancement, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Ovation TV.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Vuyani Dance Theatre website: www.vuyani.co.za
|
Good Night, Oscar North Coast Repertory (9/16-10/11) |
|
Much Ado About Nothing McCadden Place Theatre (8/07-8/16) |
|
6 Out of 10 Theatre 68 (8/20-8/20) |
|
Catch Me If You Can Colony Theatre (9/17-10/18) |
|
Emily Skinner: In Concert Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/14-8/15) |
|
Gershwin and the Golden Age Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) (10/11-10/11) |
|
John Lloyd Young Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/21-8/22) |
|
Love, Loss and What I Wore Sawyer's Playhouse (8/08-8/30) |
|
Our Man in Santiago by Mark Wilding Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (9/10-9/20) |
|
Doja Cat at The Kia Forum The Kia Forum (10/22-10/22) |