African American Dance Company studio concert explores various genres
Indiana University’s African American Dance Company will perform its annual studio concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6 at Willkie Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
A free concert Dec. 6 will include representative pieces as well as new choreographic works.
The concert is the end-of-semester public performance for university courses A100: African American Dance Company and A221: Dance in the African Diaspora, both offered through the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, part of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“The students’ contribution of ideas, movement sequences and individual and collective expression is central to the ownership of the dance piece,” African American Dance Company director Iris Rosa said. “Their commitment to exploring the various movement genres through improvisation and collaborative effort will be evident in an animated and energetic performance.”
A221 students will perform three pieces that represent the cultural, social and political aesthetics of selected black diasporic dances, which students studied throughout the eight-week course. Included are African Lamba, Afro-Cuban Elegua complex and conga/comparsa, which represents carnivals across the diaspora.
The African American Dance Company will present new choreographic projects themed “Through the Looking Glass.” After students selected a theme, they divided into groups to design, develop and construct choreography for the show. Their pieces include music by Lupe Fiasco, Emeli Sande, live percussion by Miguel Merino, poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar and spoken word. The company will also perform excerpts of “Dreams of Past and Present,” which examines the subconscious mind of a dreamer that senses discontentment and oppression after a peaceful sleep.
Guest performers include Joyce Bekyore; Sancocho Music and Dance Collage; and others.
Tags: African Lamba, Afro-Cuban Elegua complex, conga/comparsa, Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Emeli Sande, Iris Rosa, Joyce Bekyore, Lupe Fiasco, Miguel Merino, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sancocho Music and Dance Collage
