DCDC’s “The Blackest Berry: Dancing the African Diaspora” brings a city’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), art galleries, civil rights museums, and prominent performing arts centers together to infuse art into the community's conversation on the Black experience. Anchored by the commissioned work of Tommie-Waheed Evans, this tour celebrates and honors key civil rights events that make the tapestry of American culture.
Performances
This collaborative work investigates elements of desire, longing, and loneliness through the lens of queer embodiment within Black spiritual spaces. Using inspiration from author Ashon T. Crawly's profoundly innovative book, "Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility," the work explores the themes of bodily surrender, openness, and Black spirituality.
HOME/An Untitled Portrait, choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans, is an emergence of choreographic, sonic, and visual practice. Kendrick Lamar's collection of music allows space for a dialogue to take place between the music and dance.
With HOME/An Untitled Portrait, we ask, "How are spiritual desires constructed through the lenses and experiences of an isolated being?"
Set to four contemporary gospel tunes by Kirk Franklin and the Family, In My Father’s House brings the modern-day church experience to the stage. The built-in encore, danced to the song “When I Think About Jesus,” is so highly energized that it brings the audience to their feet, and they leave the theater dancing and singing.
An energetic and vibrant look into the past, Strong Like We pays homage to the strength and courage of Mike Malone’s (1943-2006) movement legacy embedded within Kathy Smith’s artistry.
This work is a unique exploration of the geography that produced the right conditions for the cultivation of the cotton plant, which subsequently has had historical global implications. Featuring a musical backdrop by contemporary Brazilian composer Amon Tobin and on-stage narrative, the combination of dance and music is simultaneously intuitive and exacting.