Donald McKayle News

Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th Anniversary Mainstage season continues with Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, January 24 – March 6, 2020 at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Featuring music by Duke Ellington, concept by Donald McKayle, direction and choreography by Brenda Didier and Florence Walker Harris, and music direction by Jermaine Hill. 

Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th Anniversary Mainstage season continues with Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, January 24 - March 6, 2020 at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Featuring music by Duke Ellington, concept by Donald McKayle, direction and choreography by Brenda Didier and Florence Walker Harris, and music direction by Jermaine Hill.

West Side Story is officially in previews on Broadway! The new production is directed by Tony Award winner Ivo van Hove; and for the first time ever in the United States, will feature all-new choreography by the internationally acclaimed Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. West Side Story will begin previews on December 10, 2019 and open February 6th, 2020 at the Broadway Theatre.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will present the 2020 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed choreographer Shen Wei. Established in 1981 by Samuel H. Scripps, the annual award honors choreographers who have dedicated their lives and talent to the creation of modern dance. Shen Wei will be in residence at ADF during the 2020 season working on his latest ADF commission set on ADF students. ADF Director Emeritus Charles L. Reinhart will present the $50,000 award in a brief ceremony on Thursday, July 23rd at 8:00pm, prior to the Footprints performance in Reynolds Industries Theater.

Donald McKayle was well represented at Lincoln Center on November 12th, 2019 with performances that touched on three periods of his long life as a choreographer and educator.

The School at Jacob's Pillow, a world-renowned center for artistic growth and excellence, announces 2020 professional advancement programs in Contemporary Ballet, Street & Club Dances, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance; and professional development programs in Choreography and Dance Photography. Situated in the heart of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the longest-running dance festival in the United States, The School has been instrumental in furthering the careers of dance artists for over 80 years and offers innovative programs each year with its roster of renowned and sought-after choreographers and dance leaders who serve as faculty. Dancers selected to attend The School at Jacob's Pillow join one of the most influential international dance networks in the field. 

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance (PTAMD) returns to Lincoln Center for its annual Season at the David H. Koch Theater from October 29 to November 17, featuring the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC). Paul Taylor: Celebrate the Dancemaker honors the legacy of founder Paul Taylor, who died in 2018. 

On Sunday, March 30th, 1958 Alvin Ailey gave his first NYC concert at the 92nd St. Y where he debuted one of his signature pieces, 'Blues Suite'. Many of the best dancers in the city performed that day. Don't miss the opportunity to hear three of these amazing artists - Ella Thompson Moore, Nat Horne and Dorene Richardson - share memories of this auspicious (incredible) performance.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) continues this week with the ADF debut of North Carolina-based Murielle Elizéon & Tommy Noonan/Culture Mill and their presentation of the ADF-commissioned They Are All.

So what does a theatre company do to keep its momentum and even up the ante after a 60th anniversary season that broke all records? Why not hire three choreographers, fourteen virtuoso singer-dancers, and an eleven-piece big band orchestra, to mount the largest dance show in its history that celebrates the music of one of America's immortal musical geniuses, Duke Ellington? That is precisely what Maine State Music Theatre has done in its 2019 season opener with its sensational all-singing, all-dancing, visually opulent extravaganza, SOPHISTICATED LADIES, that is currently blowing the roof off the Pickard with its high-octane visceral energy, heady joy, and pure lyrical magic.

Ballet Tech KIDS DANCE returns home to The Joyce for six performances of Feld classics, June 6 to 9. Sixty-three whiz-kids, ages 11 to 18, will take the stage with four Feld favorites: Hello Fancy, KYDZNY, Joggers and A Stair Dance.

Bainbridge Performing Arts is delighted to host Bainbridge Dance Center's 38th Annual Student Performance on June 27 - 29.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre, in association with Maine State Music Theatre is proud to present the dance and music-filled Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, May 2 through May 25, with Previews April 30 and May 1. Three acclaimed choreographers, Broadway's Mark Stuart, Broadway's Kenny Ingram and Lancaster's own Marc Robin, have joined to make this one memorable celebration! 

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce its 25th Anniversary season that includes the 2019 - 2020 Mainstage, Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway productions.. Porchlight's Mainstage and Porchlight Revisits return to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street.  

Bryan Arias, Artistic Director of ARIAS Company, receives the Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. The fellowship includes a $15,000 grant, a residency at the Pillow Lab, and a residency at LIU Tilles Center. The newly established Fellowship represents a shared vision between the two organizations to broaden resources that allow artists to thrive and bring new work to stages in Massachusetts, New York, and beyond.

Duke Ellington's SOPHISTICATED LADIES is playing at Maine State Music Theatre from June 5 to 22, 2019.

New theater company comes to Maplewood, NJ from the prolific vision of Gregory Omar Osborne. The launch of Progressive Theater is made possible through the support of South Orange/Maplewood Coalition on Race & Maplewood Township bringing you THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CHAMELEON SKIN in lieu of Black History Month, February 16th & 17th. Progressive Theater aims to tell culturally enriched stories that empower people of color, and captivate all audiences with the focus being on the change we want to see in the theater community.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will award the 2019 Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching to longtime Paul Taylor Dance Company rehearsal director Bettie de Jong. A ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 27, 2019 in Reynolds Industries Theater at the opening night performance of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

The Bard College Dance Program and the American Dance Festival have begun a new a partnership that seeks to challenge the way dance is taught in higher education. Uniting critical inquiry and professional practice, the new program contextualizes students' training with an annual focus on a pressing contemporary topic.

New theater company comes to Maplewood, NJ from the prolific vision of Gregory Omar Osborne. The launch of Progressive Theater is made possible through the support of South Orange/Maplewood Coalition on Race & Maplewood Township bringing you THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CHAMELEON SKIN in lieu of Black History Month, February 16th & 17th. Progressive Theater aims to tell culturally enriched stories that empower people of color, and captivate all audiences with the focus being on the change we want to see in the theater community.