Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s DBDT: Encore! collaborates with the New Texas Symphony Orchestra to create magic on stage during the Rising Excellence performance. The performance also showcases two world premieres. Dance/choreographic duo Derion Loman and Madison Olandt create a dramatic new work for the company, and Levi Marsman choreographs to Afro House music.
PNC is the presenting sponsor for the Rising Excellence performance at 7:30 pm on April 22-23, 2022, in the Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street, Dallas, TX. The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation supports female choreographers’ careers for DBDT’s 45th anniversary season. AARP Texas is the virtual sponsor.
It’s a blissful match. Diaspora synthesizes DBDT: Encore! with the community musicians of the New Texas Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) under the direction of Dr. Kathryn D. Brown. The Encore! company performs with NTSO live in a work choreographed by DBDT: Encore! Artistic Director Nycole Ray and Artistic Assistant Richard A. Freeman, Jr. The work depicts the hardships enslaved people endured during the Middle Passage. Based on the work “Diaspora” by American composer Conni Ellisor, the music is constructed on West African percussion, cultivating complex, contrasting rhythmic patterns, and tonalities.
In a first for Dallas Black Dance Theatre, dance/choreographic duo Derion Loman and Madison Olandt created The Long Wait, a drama of cosmic proportions for DBDT: Encore! This relevant and revealing world premiere is an introspective of the human spirit refusing to give up even when it can’t see the finish line.
reVIBE choreographed by Levi Marsman will make its world premiere during Rising Excellence. Marsman based the dance on movement and text he created as a way of falling back in love with his body and how it moved while in quarantine during the pandemic. Set to that same text and two pieces of Afro House music, he asked the dancers to explore what it feels like to confront themselves in a positive way using the music.
Standing on Edge by Edmond Giles reflects on the circumstance when one is battling a dark shadow within, sometimes they find themselves on the edge.
DBDT: Encore! has always been a catalyst for young talent. Founded in 2000 by Ann Williams, DBDT: Encore! represents the next generation of Dallas Black Dance Theatre as the professional training company for DBDT. Ms. Williams created the company to keep up with demand and serve Dallas and the local community. The company consists of 10 classically trained and highly skilled dancers from around the nation.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
Rising Excellence
April 22-23, 2022, 7:30 pm
Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street, Dallas, TX.
In-person + Streaming + On-demand
In-person tickets are $45.
Live streaming tickets are $30 per household. Watch the live stream broadcast at 7:30 pm CDT on Saturday, April 23, 2022, CDT or watch it on-demand starting at 10 pm CDT Saturday through Monday, April 25, 2022, at 11:59 pm CDT.
For more performance details, visit www.DBDT.com.
STUDENT MATINEES
Friday, April 22, 2022, at 10:30 am
Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street, Dallas, TX.
W.P. & Bulah Luse Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee are the Student Matinee Sponsors.
NO SUBSCRIPTIONS OR GROUP DISCOUNTS FOR THE 45TH SEASON
Dallas Black Dance Theatre is limiting seating capacity to allow for social distancing in accordance with CDC guidelines. Because of limited ticket availability, DBDT will not be able to give discounts on groups or subscriptions this year.
2021-2022 | Legacy Sponsor
Simmons Sisters Fund at Texas Women’s Foundation
2021-2022 | Catalyst Sponsors
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Texas Instruments, The International Association of Blacks in Dance, The Eugene McDermott Foundation, U.S. Small Business Administration, National Endowment for the Arts, Anonymous, and the Hillcrest Foundation.
2021 – 2022 | DBDT Season Sponsors
The City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, NBC 5, Texas Metro News, The Dallas Morning News, Texas Metro News, American Airlines, Oversee My IT, Shubert Foundation, Inc., DART, TACA, and The Dallas Weekly.
2021 – 2022 | DBDT Season Supporters
Texas Commission on the Arts, Lexus, FYI-50+, The Dallas Examiner, The Dallas Post Tribune, Elite News, Trendy Africa, and Arts+Culture.
Founded in 1976 by Ann Williams, Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s mission is to create and produce contemporary modern dance at the highest level of artistic excellence through performances and educational programs that bridge cultures and reach diverse communities. Located in the thriving downtown Dallas Arts District, DBDT has performed worldwide for over 4.5 million arts patrons and 2.7 million students in 31 states and 16 countries on five continents.
The performances include two Olympics (1996 & 2012), the nation’s most prestigious venues (Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Broadway, Jacob’s Pillow), and for such luminaries as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and South African President Nelson Mandela. Since the pandemic began in 2020, DBDT performances have also been viewed virtually in over 30 countries. The Company has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as an American Masterpiece Touring Artist (2008) and received the Texas Medal of the Arts Award for Arts Education (2017).