On May 9 and May 10, choreographer Ronald
K. Brown’s Fort Greene-based company Evidence will perform the
New York City premiere of his reconstructed 1994 piece "Dirt
Road." In the lengthy work, Brown (pictured with Essence
Magazine’s Susan Taylor in October) incorporates hip-hop dance,
spoken word and music to portray a family’s journey through grief
and loss in the 1990s.
"Ronald Brown originally choreographed ’Dirt Road’ in 1994,
but in the years following, the work had fallen out of the company’s
repertory," Maurine Knighton, executive producer of 651
ARTS, told GO Brooklyn. "Given the evolution of Ron’s choreographic
vocabulary since 1994, both the choreographer and 651 ARTS felt
it was important for audiences to experience from whence Ron
has come, to better understand his roots as both an artist and
as a person."
651 Arts gave Brown a $10,000 reconstruction grant to re-set
"Dirt Road" and add it to the current company repertory.
An excerpt from Brown’s "Destiny" (1998), which blends
African and modern dance styles, will also be performed.
On May 16 and May 17, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company,
led by Debbie Blunden-Diggs and Kevin Ward, will perform Brown
and Donald McKayle’s "Children of the Passage" (1999),
as well as Ulysses Dove’s "Vespers" (1986), Blunden-Diggs’
"In My Father’s House" (1997), and the New York premiere
of Bebe Miller’s 2002 work, "Aerodigm."
Performances begin at 8 pm at the BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton
St. at Rockwell Place in Fort Greene. Tickets are $40, $30 and
$20. For tickets, call (718) 636-4100.
