REPERTORY
To present any of these works, please contact Touring Director
Angela Burden at 937-228-3232 ext.) 102 or angela@dcdc.org
The Geography of the Cotton Fields
A unique exploration of geography that produced the right conditions for the cultivation of the cotton plant, which subsequently has had enormous world historical implications. Featuring a musical backdrop by contemporary Brazillian composer Amon Tobin and on stage narrative, the combination of dance and music is at once highly intuitive and very exacting.
Choreographer: Donald Byrd
Premier Date: February 2014
Length: 40 Minutes
Number of Dancers: 10
This I Know For Sure...
This I Know For Sure… captures the “lightbulb” moment of the creative spark. What happens between the choreographer envisioning the steps and the dancers bringing them to life?
Choreographer: Ray Mercer
Premier Date: March 2017
Length: 23 Minutes
Number of Dancers: 11
Indestructible
Developed through a practice-based creative process, this explosive physical work challenges how we engage with gravity and other grounding forces.
"Almost entirely lacking a soundtrack and lit mostly by caged bulbs high above, the work comes across as a military drill or CrossFit for the structurally oppressed," wrote one INDY Week reviewer of the work's world premiere at American Dance Festival.
Choreographer: Abby Zbikowski
Premier Date: June 2018
Length: 14 minutes
Number of Dancers: 6
Tech Requirements: Fly system Required
Shed
Shed focuses on the journey of acceptance and self-love. Shed challenges the self-imposed or culturally influenced ideology of image. The poser to love and be kind is within. Consider living in a world free of stigma. Consider breathing in an environment of tolerance. Consider thriving in a place of positive embrace. Shed inspires hope for a life lived free from judgement, in which differences are celebrated.
Choreographer: Keisha Lalama
Premier Date: October 2013
Length: 17 minutes
Number of Dancers: 9
Rainbow Round My Shoulders
Donald McKayle’s masterwork, Rainbow Round My Shoulder, is acclaimed as a modern dance classic. A searing dramatic narrative, it is set on a chain gang in the American south where prisoners work, breaking rock from “can see to can’t see.” Their aspirations for freedom come in the guise of a woman, first as a vision then as a remembered sweetheart, mother, and wife. The songs that accompany their arduous labor are rich in polyphony and tell a bitter, sardonic, and tragic story.
Choreographer: Donald McKayle
Premier Date: 1959
Length: 18 Minutes
Number of Dancers: 8
American Mo'
American Mo', choreographed by Crystal Michelle, is a celebration of triumph over adversity. Dancers express freedom, courage and joy to Duke Ellington's "Three Black Kings," composed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Choreographer: Crystal Michelle
Premier Date: September 2015
Length: 13 minutes
Number of Dancers: 6
Tech Requirements: Projection capabilities
Stump-Speach
Set to a Wynton Marsalis piece called "The Death of Jazz," "Stump-Speach" plays with the gestures of minstrelsy as choreographer Crystal Michelle asks what it means for black bodies to be in performance.
Choreographer: Crystal Michelle
Premier Date: October 2017
Length: 13 minutes
Number of Dancers: 4
Wawa Aba
Wawa Aba (toughness, hardiness, perseverance), choreographed by Stafford C. Berry, explores what it takes for a culture to last. It celebrates determination and strength, while pulling from African dance traditions.
Choreographer: Stafford C. Berry, Jr.
Premier Date: October 2017
Length: 13 minutes
Number of Dancers: 4
In My Father's House
Set to four contemporary gospel tunes by Kirk Franklin and the Family, In My Father’s House brings the modern-day church experience to the stage. The built-in encore, danced to the song “When I Think About Jesus”, is so highly energized that it brings the audience to its feet, and they leave the theater dancing and singing.