2015-16 Performing Arts Series Events

Trisha Brown Dance Company: Proscenium Works, 1979–2011 

Fri-Sat | Oct 23-24 | 2015 | 8 PM | McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall

Trisha Brown is an American original whose daring, innovative work changed the course of dance. This performance spans three successive decades and the sweep of Brown’s major dances for the stage. Included are the beloved Set and Reset (1983, music by Laurie Anderson) with its bold partnering; If you couldn’t see me, the last solo Brown choreographed for herself (1994, music and visual presentation by Robert Rauschenberg); and Present Tense (2003, music by John Cage). Proscenium Works, 1979–2011 reveals a career’s worth of brilliant, continually inventive choreography—and this is Brown’s company’s final Proscenium Works, 1979–2011 Tour.

Trisha Brown Dance Company is presented as part of the year-long project Trisha Brown: In the New Body. Support for Trisha Brown: In the New Body has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture: Words Adorned: Andalusian Poetry and Music

Sat | Dec 5 | 2015 | 8 PM | McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall

Poetry comes to life through music. Two new compositions by composers Kinan Abou-Afach and Kareem Roustom, inspired by Andalusian poetry (muwashshahat), bring a classical Arab chamber ensemble and a Western choir together for an invigorating cross-genre collaboration. Words Adorned features Al-Bustan Takht Ensemble, The Crossing choir (under the direction of Donald Nally), and solo vocalist Dalal Abu Amneh.

Presented as part of the Al-Bustan Presents: Words Adorned Series Fall 2015, supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage with additional support from The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.

Lovertits by Annie Wilson

Thu-Sat | Jan 28-30 | 2016 | 8 PM | Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart Hall

Bold. Hilarious. Fearless. The runaway hit of the 2014 Fringe Festival, Lovertits draws on Burlesque’s pro-sex, body positive over-the-top subversiveness and postmodern dance’s smart, cerebral, awkward choreographies. Lovertits says: having a body, being a body is awesome—and not a little strange. Performers turn their breasts into eyes, their vaginas into purses, their bodies into landscapes, all the while asking: Why does the performance of sexiness look so different from the actual act of sex?

Ronald K. Brown / Evidence: Dance and the Spirit

Fri | Feb 26 | 2016 | 8 PM | McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall

Ronald K. Brown’s dances exude a deep spiritual seriousness while focusing on the seamless integration of traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word. This program includes Brown’s signature Grace and his moving recent collaboration with jazz pianist Jason Moran, The Subtle One. Gia Kourlas of the New York Times writes of the Brooklyn-based choreographer’s “magnificently textured style, which shifts from earthy, raw-powered movement to jumps that send dancers sailing into the air like spirits.”

Imani Winds: Considered (mostly) Modern

Fri | Apr 1 | 2016 | 8 PM | Thomas Great Hall

Considered North America’s premier wind quintet, GRAMMY®-nominated Imani Winds has taken a unique path with its dynamic playing, adventurous collaborations, and cross-cultural artistry. The immaculately tight group reveals its stylistic agility and daring in works by composers including Hector Villa-Lobos, Elliot Carter, and the young, celebrated French composer Thierry Escaich.