September 12, 2014

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence Opens the Williams Center for the Arts 2014/15 Season Dance Series with ‘The Subtle One’

Renowned choreographer Ronald K. Brown and his New York-based contemporary dance ensemble, Evidence, will present their latest work, "The Subtle One," at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts. Renowned choreographer Ronald K. Brown and his New York-based contemporary dance ensemble, Evidence, will present their latest work, "The Subtle One," at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts.

 

Renowned choreographer Ronald K. Brown and his New York-based contemporary dance ensemble, Evidence, will present their latest work, The Subtle One, at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at the Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College. A pre-performance talk with Choreographer-in-Residence Ben Munisteri will be given at 7 p.m. The renowned choreographer’s Lafayette College residency is part of a three-year Mellon Foundation “Choreographers on Campus” award.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by visiting or calling the Williams Center box office at (610) 330-5009 from noon to 2 p.m., and 4 to 5 p.m. on weekdays, plus one hour before the performance.

The Subtle One, which recently opened to rave reviews at the Joyce Theater, is a quiet, reverent piece set to Jason Moran’s jazz piano.  The title derives from one of the many names for Allah, whom Brown has described as “the one who whispers things into existence.”  As part of the program, Brown also presents Come Ye, which grew out of his thinking about the 1960s peace movement as the war in Afghanistan was underway.  It echoes the pursuit of peace and liberation, specifically the activism of Nina Simone and Fela Kuti, whose music provides a backdrop for the dance.  Lastly, the company presents Torch, a piece created in residence at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Youth Arts Academy.

Prior to the performance, Brown will also teach a series of master classes at Lafayette and Muhlenberg colleges, as part of the three-year “Choreographers on Campus” grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Lafayette College master class on Wednesday, Sept. 17, is open to the public and will be held in the Studio Theater of the new Film and Media Studies/Theater Building, 248 N. Third Street (Please call 610-330-5203 for more information). Brown explores dance idioms from across the African Diaspora, mixing Cuban, Caribbean, West African and modern American dance forms. On Thursday, Sept. 18 at noon, Brown will lead a lunch discussion on “Faith in Dance, the Arts and African American History” at Lafayette’s Interfaith Chapel in Hogg Hall.

In addition to his work with Evidence, Brown has created work for the African American Dance Ensemble, Philadanco, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Grace in 1999, Serving Nia in 2001, IFE/My Heart 2005 and Dancing Spirit during special tribute season), Ailey II, Cinque Folkloric Dance Theater, Jennifer Muller/The Works, and Jeune Ballet d’Afrique Noire.

Brown has received numerous awards and fellowships including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Choreography, a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in choreography, New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie), a Black Theater Alliance Award, the American Dance Festival Humphrey/Weidman/Limón Award, and fellowships from the Edward and Sally van Lier Fund.

For more information, contact Kelly Prentice (610) 330-5203, prentick@lafayette.edu

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Photos courtesy of Lafayette College
Higher resolution image available online.
Left: https://flic.kr/p/paGmKa; right, photo by Ayodele Casel, https://flic.kr/p/oQukkz

Kathleen Parrish
Associate Director of Media Relations
Lafayette College
Communications Division
Easton, PA 18042
parrishk@lafayette.edu
www.lafayette.edu

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