DBDT Dancers Take The Stage Outdoors
Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) is continuing virtual performances to finish its 44th season.
In January, the company will continue to capture dance and choreography on video in outdoor environments across Dallas. Additionally, the dance company decided to continue to offer virtual performances, even after it goes back to performing live in venues. For virtual ticket prices and more details about the performances, visit their website.
“During the summer of 2020, Dallas Black Dance Theatre became the first professional dance company nationally and internationally to consistently present paid virtual performances as a new business model after the closing of live performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said DBDT executive director Zenetta S. Drew. “This new model has resulted in extending the organization’s reach beyond the theatre, allowing audiences in areas the company has never traveled to physically to enjoy performances.”
The DBDT spring season launches in January with legacy performances of audience favorites.
DBDT: Encore!‘s virtual performances continue at 7 p.m. Jan. 9. Unsettled Thoughts by Richard A. Freeman, Jr., features an excerpt of the work that explores the roles of the heart and mind. Some Moan for Love, by the late Darryl B. Sneed, is a solo that expresses the sentiment of love in hopes of reciprocation. COLD, a duet choreographed by Floyd McLean, Jr., is filled with searing strength and colossal control. Weighted by Shauna Davis is a thought-provoking work that explores pushing past physical boundaries.
The DBDT Legacy Performance Series continues online at 7 p.m. Jan. 23. Monologues choreographed by DBDT veteran dancer Sean J. Smith showcases a series of satirical sketches featuring characters dealing with anxieties. The audience can talk to the choreographer and dancers in a Dancemaker’s Discussion that follows the performance.
DBDT: Encore!’s performance of Reminisce is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 6. Reminisce reflects on the Civil Rights Era, paying tribute through the music of Andra Day, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight & The Pips with the empowering words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This work was a collaborative effort by DBDT: Encore! Artistic Director Nycole Ray, DBDT: Encore! Artistic Assistant Richard A. Freeman, Jr., Encore! dancer Terrell Rogers, and the entire Encore! Company.
At 7 p.m. Feb. 20, Dallas Black Dance Theatre produces a dramatic perspective on Civil Rights activism through movement, set to the music of Odetta Holmes in ODETTA. Alvin Ailey. American Dance Theater Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing choreographed this work to pay tribute to Odetta’s musical range of folk, gospel, and blues music. The Mourner’s Bench exemplifies the choreographic skills of Talley Beatty. He created the solo in 1947, which portrays an emotional, spiritual struggle with social inequity in the rural South during the Civil War.
DBDT: Encore!‘s Dancing Beyond Borders virtual performance is set for 7 p.m. March 13. Dr. Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris’ choreographic skills shine in Hate 2 Luv U, a blend of street-dance styles with house music based on social themes. Tidal Intersections is a contemporary modern work for the full company by Polish-born choreographer Katarzyna Skarpetowska. Nycole Ray choreographed Opaque, a full company work that embodies movements that manifest a mysterious and majestic atmosphere.
DBDT: Encore!’s Rising Excellence is set for 7 p.m. April 17. In a first for Dallas Black Dance Theatre, the dance/choreographic duo of Derion Loman and Madison Olandt created The Long Wait for DBDT: Encore! The dance takes the audience on an experience of the human spirit. Nineteenth vividly captures the struggle for equality for women in the suffrage movement.
Lastly, Spring Celebration is set for 7 p.m. May 22. Dallas Black Dance Theatre takes audiences on a journey through the process of forgiveness and unconditional love in A Tender Pardon. DBDT veteran dancer Claude Alexander III choreographed the work.
