Reframing the Narrative: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, & Collage Dance Collective
$29-$119
In the spirit of Sankofa, in order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past.
Through Reframing the Narrative, a week-long celebration featuring performances on the Opera House stage, we recognize that Black ballet dancers have been pillars of the field for decades. We acknowledge that the artistry and leadership of Black ballet dancers has shaped ballet throughout the United States and across the globe. The history of Black dancers in ballet is rich—but many voices and many stories have remained untold and unheard. It’s time to reframe the narrative.
The week will feature multiple dynamic programs curated by Theresa Ruth Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, and Denise Saunders Thompson, president and CEO of The International Association of Blacks in Dance. Performances will bring together Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective along with other Black-identifying ballet dancers from across the United States to highlight the incredible work these pillar companies are doing in ballet today.
Together we will consider what ballet could look like when we gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential moving forward.
Program A: June 14–16
Opening the week, the first program features the three companies in a shared program of works as well as Byrd's world premiere to close out the evening.
Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Balamouk. Telling the story of a group of colorful individuals on a journey of hope, the ballet is set to the sounds and rhythms of North African music.
The company will also perform "Odalisques Variations" from the second act of Le Corsaire. This version, conducted by Dr. Leslie Dunner, is a contemporary staging by DTH company artist Dylan Santos after Marius Petipa's choreography with music by Adolphe Adam and Cesare Pugni.
Ballethnic Dance Company brings Co-Artistic Director Waverly T. Lucas II's Sanctity, a 10-dancer ballet with music in collaboration with L. Gerard Reid. Influenced by African dance concepts and originally commissioned by Baba Chuck Davis for the National Black Arts Festival, the piece expresses the importance of collective work of a community by knowing one’s purpose. Dancers contributed to the ballet by creating a statement to serve as a backdrop for their poetic and dance expression providing insight to who they are. Performed to live music onstage, the score was inspired by percussion instruments from American, African, and Hispanic cultures.
Collage Dance Collective will perform Bluff City Blues, a new work paying homage to the rich musical heritage of the company’s hometown of Memphis by internationally-known choreographer Amy Hall Garner.
Program B: June 17–19
The second program, beginning on June 17, features a work from each of the three companies along with Byrd’s world premiere.
Gloria, from Dance Theatre of Harlem, is a tribute to the spiritual legacy of Harlem and will be conducted by Dunner. Choreographed in 2012 by Resident Choreographer Robert Garland, it is set to Francis Poulenc's Glory to God in the Highest for orchestra, soprano, and choir. The ballet also includes Washington, D.C. metropolitan area dance students.
Ballethnic Dance Company will perform excerpts from its signature work, The Leopard Tale. Choreographed by Lucas, the work fuses ballet and African dance in a high-energy performance about a tale of survival in the African jungle with an original score by Reid.
Set in an enchanted South African jungle, Collage Dance Collective closes the program with Artistic Director Kevin Thomas' Firebird. Conducted by Kalena Bovell, the work’s set design, costumes, and movement take inspiration from the Zulu/XhosaI culture in South Africa. In addition, Stravinsky's powerful score is brought to life by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
Please review the Kennedy Center's current COVID-19 protocols before attending this event: https://www.kennedy-center.org/visit/covid-safety/
Kennedy Center Opera House
2700 F St NWWashington, DC 20566
United States
https://www.kennedy-center.org/visit/exploring-our-spaces/opera-house/