About the performances:
Just as African American jazz artists were transformed by their experiences in and their immigration to the Nordic countries, Nordic music artists were also influenced and changed by the presences of Black Americans in their countries and by the uniquely African American music that is jazz. In this particular case, Donald is focused on the music of the influential Swedish jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson, who died in a scuba diving accident in 2008, and his group E.S.T. The project is a choreographic response to his music, especially the posthumously released album, Home.S. The project, DIALOGUE, is an African American choreographer’s response to a white European musician responding to an African American music form: a conversation, if you will.
About Spectrum Dance Theater:
Spectrum Dance Theater (SDT) was founded in 1982 to bring dance of the highest merit to a diverse audience composed of people from different social, cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds. Their principal objective is to make the art form of dance accessible through contemporary dance performances and high-quality training in a variety of dance styles.
Under Donald Byrd’s visionary artistic leadership since 2002, the organization has embarked on an exhilarating transformation that has attracted world-class dancers, produced some of the most ambitious works in contemporary dance, and generated local and national praise.
