Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE presents New York premiere at the Joyce next week (photo by Rose Eichenbaum)
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, a Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
January 17-22, $51-$71
212-691-9740
www.joyce.org
www.evidencedance.com
Discussing “the grief and the weight of everything that we feel,” choreographer Ronald K. Brown says, in a Jacob’s Pillow behind-the-scenes video of the making of his latest work, The Equality of Night and Day (TEND), “I want us to find that joy and make sure that everyone understands that this is the destination in the word equality. That it’s the destination of this kind of . . . serenity.”
Since 1985, Bed-Stuy native Brown has been choreographing illuminating works for his Brooklyn-based troupe, EVIDENCE, melding classical ballet and traditional West African movement to create powerful and exhilarating contemporary pieces steeped in social justice, honoring the ancestors, and celebrating community. Through January 15, Brown is curating American Dance Platform at the Joyce, featuring Les Ballet Afrik, B. Moore Dance, and waheedworks. “I remember the first time EVIDENCE, a Dance Company was on the Joyce stage over twenty years ago,” Brown writes in the program. “It was a monumental moment for us and I hope that these three companies will benefit from the exposure that the platform provides.”
Following American Dance Platform, EVIDENCE returns to the Joyce stage for its 2023 home season, presenting three works. Commissioned for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1999 and added to the EVIDENCE repertory in 2004, Grace is a rapturous tribute to Ailey’s legacy, set to music by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis Jr., and Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Also choreographed for AAADT, 2015’s Open Door will have its company premiere, a twenty-six-minute piece with live music by Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble.
The centerpiece is the New York premiere of TEND, which explores balance, equity, and fairness, with a score by pianist and visual artist Jason Moran, spoken word by Angela Davis, flowing costumes by Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya, set design and lighting by Tsubasa Kamei, and photographs curated by Debra Wills; the company consists of associate artistic director Arcell Cabuag, rehearsal directors Demetrius Burns and Shayla Caldwell, assistant rehearsal director Joyce Edwards, Stephanie Chronopoulos, Austin Coats, Isaiah Harvey, and Breana Moore, with guest artists Randall Riley, Christopher Salango, Shaylin D. Watson, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Daniel Harder, Hannah Alissa Richardson, Annique S. Roberts, and Keon Thoulouis. There will be a Curtain Chat following the January 18 performance and a family matinee on January 21.
Don’t miss what is sure to be one of the highlights of the dance year. Brown/EVIDENCE knows how to get the crowd going like no other company; every time I see them feels monumental.