Harlem Stage presents Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE in "E-MOVES"
Company:
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
E-Moves
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
Fri, Oct. 13 & Sat, Oct. 14, 2023
Founded in 1985 and based in Brooklyn, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE seamlessly melds traditional African and Afro-Cuban dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word. First presented at our previous home, Aaron Davis Hall, in 1998, the company returns for a not-to-be-missed performance featuring dances that are “pure Brown: otherworldly, charged, urgent in their undulating sweep and unaffectedly fervent” (The New York Times).
In celebration of Harlem Stage's 40th anniversary, EVIDENCE is honored to reprise Palo y Machete, an excerpt of the evening-length work One Shot. Originally choreographed for EVIDENCE Associate Artistic Director Arcell Cabuag, One Shot was commissioned for the opening of the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The work is a tribute to the legendary photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris, who was known for capturing his subjects in one click of the camera.
The evening features the extraordinary duet March set to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which illustrates a physical story of perseverance, dignity, and collective strength and care-taking. The program also includes the striking ensemble work Upside Down, an excerpt from the evening-length work Destiny, which was created during a residency collaboration between Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE and a company from the Ivory Coast, Jeune Ballet d’Afrique Noire, helmed by choreographer Rokiya Kone. This seminal collaboration, a part of Africa Exchange (our former home Aaron Davis Hall, 651 Arts, NJPAC, and others), marked Brown's signature breakout work where he used contemporary and African dance vocabulary in his now widely known and highly regarded fusion style. It remains one of EVIDENCE's most popular and beloved works and speaks to the ideas of the importance of community and the destiny of the soul.
Inspired by Harlem Stage’s 40th Anniversary Season’s theme of “Looking Back to Create Forward,” Brown invites emerging choreographer Joya Powell to present a work. A multiethnic Harlemite, Powell is a Bessie Award-winning choreographer and educator passionate about community, activism, and dances of the African Diaspora. Hailed by The New York Times as a “radiant performer,” Powell founded Movement of the People Dance Company in 2005, a company dedicated to addressing sociocultural injustices through multidisciplinary Afrofuturist immersive contemporary dance. Hair Ties, created in collaboration with MOPDC dancers and community members, is a multidisciplinary, dance-theater piece inspired by America’s fear of Black power and beauty. Influenced by the artful and imaginative responses to the Tignon Laws of the 1700s, this evocative work is a celebration of Black beauty, creativity, and ingenuity in the face of perpetual oppression.
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