Hope Boykin premieres a new work live onstage from the Annenberg Center on March 11 (photo courtesy HopeBoykinDance)
Who: Hope Boykin, Meagan King, Alisha Peek, Martina Viadana, Terri Ayanna Wright
What: Livestreamed dance performance written, choreographed, and directed by Hope Boykin
Where: Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania
When: Thursday, March 11, $25, 7:00 (available on demand through March 13)
Why: The inimitable Hope Boykin, the longtime Alvin Ailey star who has also danced with Complexions and Philadanco and delivered the Lincoln Center Activate keynote lecture in October, brings her own company, HopeBoykinDance, to the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania for a live program March 11 at 7:00. She will present the world premiere of Redefine US, from the INside OUT., performed live onstage and followed by an interactive Q&A. The show, which will be available on demand through March 13, features Boykin, Meagan King, Alisha Peek, Martina Viadana, and Terri Ayanna Wright, with music by Bill Laurance and lighting by Al Crawford. In the piece, which was developed in the #BoykinBubble in a residency at Modern Accord Depot in upstate New York, Boykin, a native of Durham, North Carolina, addresses such questions as “What if we decided to make and give our life of words new meaning? Or maybe, shift the pain and invite love in? What if we decided to see ourselves with new eyes, erase the old and redefine us from the inside out? What if we all had a new, inside out me? What if…?” AC Presents continues April 1 with Rennie Harris Puremovement, April 8 with Zakir Hussain, April 15 with Keyon Harrold, and April 22 with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers.