“A company of happy, invigorating contrast…a venerable institution…but has not lost its youthful verve or the freshness of its strong technical grounding.” —New York Times
Renowned contemporary dance company Philadanco presents an evening of works, entitled For Your Pleasure, including the Philadelphia premiere of Watching Go By, the day, a new work by acclaimed choreographer and former Philadanco member Hope Boykin at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, Friday – Sunday, November 4-6, 2011. The program also includes some of Philadanco’s signature performance pieces that highlight their bold, precise dance style including George Faison’s Suite Otis, Gene Hill Sagan’s La Valse, and Christopher L. Huggins’ Blue.
A Durham, North Carolina native, Boykin’s Watching Go By, the day received its world premiere at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill’s Carolina Performance Arts on September 23. The piece features an original score by Ali Jackson, a composer and drummer with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Tickets for Philadanco are available from $29 to $46 by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office located on Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM, later on performance evenings.)
Hope Boykin is a three-time recipient of the American Dance Festival’s Young Tuition Scholarship. She attended Howard University and while in Washington, DC she performed with Lloyd Whitmore’s New World Dance Company. Ms. Boykin was a student and intern at The Ailey School. She was assistant to the late Talley Beatty and an original member of Complexions. Ms. Boykin was a member of Philadanco and received a New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award. Ms. Boykin joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2000 and in 2005 choreographed Acceptance In Surrender in collaboration with Abdur-Rahim Jackson and Matthew Rushing for the company. Most recently she choreographed Go In Grace with award-winning singing group Sweet Honey In The Rock for the company’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Brenda Dixon Gottschild, author of The Black Dancing Body, pens the forthcoming Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina, to be published January 2012 – a testament to Brown’s groundbreaking career and achievements.
Philadanco has a long history as Philadelphia’s premiere modern contemporary dance company: it is one of the first companies to hire dancers on a 52 week salary; the first to own housing for the dancers; and the first to own a debt-free facility. Philadanco presents wide-ranging repertoire of highly athletic material rooted in jazz, ballet and modern dance traditions. The company continues to consistently tour more than any Philadelphia cultural organization, performing as many as 50-60 concerts and 45 residencies annually.
“The members of…Philadanco can do just about anything: leap like arrows in flight, spin, stretch, kick and melt like hot wax.” —Washington Post
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