DANCE
November 9 & 10, 2018
Camille A. Brown Dancers: Ink
8pm
Admission: $25+
The final work in Duke Performances’ artist-in-residence Camille A. Brown’s visionary trilogy about being black in America, ink celebrates the expressive spirit and style of black men while mourning the way that style has been misunderstood and maligned. ink explores the beauty and power of everyday gesture and the spiritual nature of the ordinary, searching out the stories that live within the bodies of her dancers. The dancing is vivid, impressionistic, and evocative, an engrossing mix of contemporary cultural references and ancestral African imagery. Pulling, stirring, shaking, sewing: Brown and her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, distill each action into its essence, then build it into evocative choreography. ink explores the evolution of African-American gestural language and, in doing so, reveals dramatic relationships between old and new.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
February 1 & 2, 2019
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Black Girl: LInguistic Play
8pm
Admission: 25+
In BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, Camille A. Brown draws upon the rhythmic pulsation of double Dutch, the complexity of step and tap, and the full-body percussion of juba to elevate the cultural contributions of black girls to triumphant artistic expression. Inspired by Kyra D. Gaunt’s book The Games Black Girls Play, three duets recall childhood relationships that are both playful and bittersweet; through these dances, Brown explores how black girls and women “perform” in order to meet social expectations, while still maintaining their own cultural language, and translates the spontaneous movement of youth into sophisticated, sneaker-stomping footwork. The dancers smile as they move and lock eyes as they tussle, reveling in the complicated patterns that grow out ofschoolyard play. The result is a joyous celebration of youthful movement that manages to raise essential questions about what it means to become and be seen as a black woman in America. “Dramatically brilliant, physically exhilarating,” exclaims The New York Times. Duke Performances Artist-in-Residence Camille A. Brown “is clearly a force of nature.” This visionary choregrapher has created an essential trilogy of works that redefine black identity within the evolving cultural landscape of this country: Mr. TOL E. RAncE, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, and ink. Her series of three one-week residencies at Duke Performances with her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, marks the first time a single presenter has staged this trilogy in its entirety. Separately, the shows function as breathtaking stand-alone pieces; together, they form a striking commentary on perceptions of black identity. A courageous, unified epic, her trilogy — presented here in reverse order — is at the vanguard of American dance.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
February 2, 2019
Movement Art Is, Featuring Jon Boogz and Lil Buck
Love Heals All Wounds
8 pm
Celebrated on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and viral on YouTube, choreographers and dancers, Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, join forces to examine and encourage social justice. Building joy and compassion through an intricate hybrid of street dance styles, born from popping and jookin, this powerful work highlights the work of spoken word artist Robin Sanders and features an all-star cast of dancers.
Stewart Theater
NC State University, Talley Student Union
2610 Cates Ave, Raleigh
www.live.arts.ncsu.edu
March 1 & 2, 2019
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Mr. Tol E. Rance
8pm
Admission: $25+
It took Camille A. Brown two years of research to create Mr. Tol E. RAncE, a dynamic work that looks critically and candidly at the enduring legacy of white supremacy in American pop culture. Brown uses dance, theater, comedy, video, and animation to explore black entertainers’ tenacity in the face of reductive stereotypes, and the larger theme of humor as a survival tactic in a white supremacist world. Intertwining the exaggerated movements of minstrelsy along with African dance, Lindy hop, ballet, tap, and hip-hop, Brown and six other dancers create lucid portraits that express both hardship and showmanship. Pianist Scott Patterson plays a stirring score in real time. The result, which won a Bessie Award in 2014, is a fearless, unflinching examination of the endless hurdles black artists have long encountered, a poignant mix of the pain of oppression and the joy of inventiveness.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
November 9 & 10, 2018
Camille A. Brown Dancers: Ink
8pm
Admission: $25+
The final work in Duke Performances’ artist-in-residence Camille A. Brown’s visionary trilogy about being black in America, ink celebrates the expressive spirit and style of black men while mourning the way that style has been misunderstood and maligned. ink explores the beauty and power of everyday gesture and the spiritual nature of the ordinary, searching out the stories that live within the bodies of her dancers. The dancing is vivid, impressionistic, and evocative, an engrossing mix of contemporary cultural references and ancestral African imagery. Pulling, stirring, shaking, sewing: Brown and her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, distill each action into its essence, then build it into evocative choreography. ink explores the evolution of African-American gestural language and, in doing so, reveals dramatic relationships between old and new.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
February 1 & 2, 2019
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Black Girl: LInguistic Play
8pm
Admission: 25+
In BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, Camille A. Brown draws upon the rhythmic pulsation of double Dutch, the complexity of step and tap, and the full-body percussion of juba to elevate the cultural contributions of black girls to triumphant artistic expression. Inspired by Kyra D. Gaunt’s book The Games Black Girls Play, three duets recall childhood relationships that are both playful and bittersweet; through these dances, Brown explores how black girls and women “perform” in order to meet social expectations, while still maintaining their own cultural language, and translates the spontaneous movement of youth into sophisticated, sneaker-stomping footwork. The dancers smile as they move and lock eyes as they tussle, reveling in the complicated patterns that grow out ofschoolyard play. The result is a joyous celebration of youthful movement that manages to raise essential questions about what it means to become and be seen as a black woman in America. “Dramatically brilliant, physically exhilarating,” exclaims The New York Times. Duke Performances Artist-in-Residence Camille A. Brown “is clearly a force of nature.” This visionary choregrapher has created an essential trilogy of works that redefine black identity within the evolving cultural landscape of this country: Mr. TOL E. RAncE, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, and ink. Her series of three one-week residencies at Duke Performances with her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, marks the first time a single presenter has staged this trilogy in its entirety. Separately, the shows function as breathtaking stand-alone pieces; together, they form a striking commentary on perceptions of black identity. A courageous, unified epic, her trilogy — presented here in reverse order — is at the vanguard of American dance.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu
February 2, 2019
Movement Art Is, Featuring Jon Boogz and Lil Buck
Love Heals All Wounds
8 pm
Celebrated on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and viral on YouTube, choreographers and dancers, Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, join forces to examine and encourage social justice. Building joy and compassion through an intricate hybrid of street dance styles, born from popping and jookin, this powerful work highlights the work of spoken word artist Robin Sanders and features an all-star cast of dancers.
Stewart Theater
NC State University, Talley Student Union
2610 Cates Ave, Raleigh
www.live.arts.ncsu.edu
March 1 & 2, 2019
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Mr. Tol E. Rance
8pm
Admission: $25+
It took Camille A. Brown two years of research to create Mr. Tol E. RAncE, a dynamic work that looks critically and candidly at the enduring legacy of white supremacy in American pop culture. Brown uses dance, theater, comedy, video, and animation to explore black entertainers’ tenacity in the face of reductive stereotypes, and the larger theme of humor as a survival tactic in a white supremacist world. Intertwining the exaggerated movements of minstrelsy along with African dance, Lindy hop, ballet, tap, and hip-hop, Brown and six other dancers create lucid portraits that express both hardship and showmanship. Pianist Scott Patterson plays a stirring score in real time. The result, which won a Bessie Award in 2014, is a fearless, unflinching examination of the endless hurdles black artists have long encountered, a poignant mix of the pain of oppression and the joy of inventiveness.
Duke Performances
Reynolds Industries Theater
Bryan University Center
125 Science Drive, Durham
(919) 684-4444
www.dukeperformances.duke.edu