Presents OPENING NIGHT WELCOME Jodee Nimerichter ADF Executive Director Steve Schewel Mayor, City of Durham PERFORMANCE BY Dayton Contemporary Dance Company Dedicated to Donald McKayle Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 7:00pm Reynolds Industries Theater Jeraldyne Blunden, Founder Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Artistic Director Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders, Chief Executive Officer Crystal Michelle, Associate Artistic Director Michelle VanHuss, Director of Touring & University Initiatives Audrey Ingram, Company Manager Matthew J. Evans, Technical Director Travis Dwire, Stage Manager L’Amour, Wardrobe Manager Dancers Devin Baker, Qarrianne Blayr, Trezon Carnell Dancy, Alexandria Flewellen, Michael Green, G. D. Harris, Stevie Lamblin, Robert Pulido, Elizabeth Ramsey, Nile Alicia Ruff, Quentin Apollo, Vaughn Sledge, Matthew J. Talley, Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, and Countess V. Winfrey These performances are dedicated to Donald McKayle. Thursday, June 14 at 7:00pm Friday, June 15 at 8:00pm Reynolds Industries Theater RAINBOW 'ROUND MY SHOULDER Original Premiere, 1959 | DCDC Premiere, 1987 Choreography Donald McKayle Music Traditional music arranged by Robert DeCormier and Milton Okun from the Collection of John and Allan Lomax Costume Design Original costumes by Domingo A. Rodriguez, recreated for DCDC by Ayn Wood Lighting Design John Rensel Men on the Chain Gang Devin Baker, Trezon Carnell Dancy, Michael Green, Robert Pulido, Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge, Matthew J. Talley Solo I Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge Solo II Devin Baker (June 14) Michael Green (June 15) Sweetheart, Mother, Wife Qarrianne Blayr (June 14) Countess V. Winfrey (June 15) Notes The chain gang working along rural roads in the South has become a thing of the past for most states, but at one time it was a common sight to see a group of men linked together at the ankles with a length of chain, leaving or returning to a prison farm. A woman appears in their dreams, and to each prisoner, she is a sweetheart, mother, or wife. Yearning for freedom, two men escape only to die in their quest. This dance mirrors the lost hope and frustrations of these men on the chain gang. Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder, choreographed by Donald McKayle, performed by DCDC, and produced by Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, was honored with a 2016 New York Dance & Performance Award (“Bessie”) for Outstanding Revival. AWASSA ASTRIGE/OSTRICH Original Premiere, 1932 | DCDC Premiere, 1997 Choreography Asadata Dafora Restaged by Ella Thompson-Moore Music Carl Riley Performed by Christopher Ward and Jennifer Brining Costume Design Catti Lighting Design Craig Miller Dancer G. D. Harris Notes A warrior imitates the graceful but powerful movements of the ostrich, king of the birds. The reconstruction of this work was made possible by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. INTERMISSION INDESTRUCTIBLE World Premiere, June 2018, American Dance Festival, Durham, NC Choreography Abby Zbikowski Music Death Grips Costume Design L’Amour Lighting Design Matthew J. Evans Dancers Trezon Carnell Dancy, Alexandria Flewellen, Robert Pulido, Nile Alicia Ruff, Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge, and Countess V. Winfrey Notes For the making of Indestructible, I employed the same practice-based creative process with DCDC that I have been cultivating over the past six years with my company, Abby Z and the New Utility. While working this way, we foregrounded the act of moving and repeating in order to locate tactics and new techniques for surviving this mentally and physically taxing work, a continuous and relentless task that directly taps into knowledge gained from our individually lived experiences. Physical ideas and choreographic structures for this work pull from prior pieces with my company, including “abandoned playground” and “the new utility.” I’d like to thank the cast of six dancers, and the whole company at DCDC, for their ongoing dedication to this work, and a huge thank you to my rehearsal assistant during the process, Fiona Lundie, and the maintenance rehearsal director, Jennifer Meckley. Commissioned by the American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/ SHS Foundations Award for New Works. THIS I KNOW FOR SURE... Premiere, 2017, Dayton, OH Choreography Ray Mercer Music Bongi Duma, Lorde, Olafur Arnalds, Peter Gregson, and Ludovico Einaudi Costume Design Elena Comendador Lighting Design Matthew Evans I. Genesis: The Preamble Devin Baker, Qarrianne Blayr, Trezon Carnell Dancy, Michael Green, Stevie Lamblin, Robert Pulido, Elizabeth Ramsey, Nile Alicia Ruff, Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge, Matthew James Talley, and Countess V. Winfrey II. Trois Elizabeth Ramsey, Nile Alicia Ruff, and Countess V. Winfrey III. He, Him, Himself Devin Baker, Trezon Carnell Dancy, Stevie Lamblin, Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge, and Matthew James Talley IV. A Pair of Connections Stevie Lamblin & Robert Pulido Nile Alicia Ruff & Quentin Apollo Vaughn Sledge Countess V. Winfrey & Michael Green V. Just Him Devin Baker VI. Omega: The Postscript The Ensemble Notes Featured in the American Dance Abroad publication Pitchbook: Volume IV. ABOUT DAYTON CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY Dayton Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1968 to create performance opportunities for dancers of color. Nearly 50 years later, it remains rooted in the African American experience, committed to the development of diverse movement artists on the global stage. A co-recipient of one of the dance world’s highest honors, the 2016 "Bessie" Award for Outstanding Revival, DCDC has been presented by the American Dance Festival, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and supported by National Endowment for the Arts and New England Foundation for the Arts among others. DCDC was part of ADF’s Black Tradition in American Modern Dance program which included the reconstruction of master works by African American choreographers on the company. The works were toured across the US and were complemented by humanities discussions. The company was also featured in ADF’s Emmy Award- winning performance documentary Free to Dance and its companion program Dancing in the Light, which were featured on public television. The culturally diverse company is dedicated to exceptional performance and quality community engagement. DCDC has toured the world, dancing onstage for packed houses in Bermuda, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and South Korea and recently completed its participation in the seventh season of DanceMotion USA as cultural ambassadors in Kazakhstan and Russia. DEBBIE BLUNDEN-DIGGS (Artistic Director) became Artistic Director for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in 2007. For over 20 years she performed with the company, appearing in most of the company’s repertoire. Before becoming Artistic Director, she served as the company’s Associate Artistic Director, Deputy Director for Arts and Operations, and Resident Choreographer. In addition to her choreographic and artistic leadership, Ms. Blunden-Diggs is the Executive Director of Jeraldyne’s School of the Dance, the cornerstone to Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and she works closely with DCDC’s pre-professional company, DCDC2. She has created works for the company which have become part of the company’s artistic blueprint. Her notable works include Configurations, Kaleidoscope, Fragments, In My Father’s House, and Trac. Her first pieceVariations in Blue, composed when she was seventeen, was submitted as an entry in the Young Choreographers Showcase and selected for inclusion in the National Choreographic Plan. She has contributed an impressive body of work including No Room, No Place, No Where for which she received a Monticello Award in 1982. In May 2002, she adjudicated the Regional Dance America Northeast Competitions. Ms. Blunden-Diggs was Co-Director/Choreographer for The Human Race Theatre’s production of Crowns, as well as Director/Choreographer for Central State University’s original production of In The Pursuit of Wind among others. She created ballets for and worked with students at University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College, Wright State University, Central State University, South Dayton Dance Theatre, and Stivers School for the Arts. She served on the Board of Directors for The International Association of Blacks in Dance from 2000 to 2006 and currently since 2015. She has received numerous awards and accolades. Among them are honors from Regional Dance America, Monticello Choreographic Fellowships in 1979 and 1980, and two Individual Fellowship Awards from the Ohio Arts Council in 1981 and 1984. The Fisk University Alumni Association honored her with an Excellence in Artistry Award, and she was awarded a Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District Master Fellowship for artistic excellence and community outreach initiatives in 2000. In 2014, she received the Image of Hope Youth Advocacy Award for her contributions to improve the lives of youth in the Greater Dayton area. Ms. Blunden-Diggs is an adjunct professor at University of Dayton in the Theatre, Dance, and Performance Technology Program, and serves on the Seedling Foundation Board for Stivers School for the Arts. CRYSTAL MICHELLE PERKINS (Associate Artistic Director) is a choreographer, performer, and intermedia artist, who serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC). Previous to her appointment, she was a dancer with DCDC’s professional touring company for nine seasons. She served as resident choreographer and was charged with maintaining an extensive repertory