DRDT’s Nicole Clarke-Springer
begins serving as the company’s
artistic
director during the 2019–20
season, beginning with these fall
performances. Co-Founder Kevin Iega
Jeff, transitioning to the role of
creative director, is shifting his
focus to cultivate the community
relationships and funding resources
for developing the South Side Dance
Center, an initiative announced in
2018, and the development of the
new
Special Projects Division,
beginning with the Donald
Lawrence
collaboration previewing
on the December programs. Jeff will
also
support Clarke-Springer’s
transition by serving on DRDT’s Artistic
Team.
As an overall frame for the season,
Clarke-Springer has chosen a quote
from writer Jeremy Eichler: “The
great masterworks of the past
not only
shaped what came
afterward but continue to find
their meaning changed
retroactively
as new works of art reimagine
them through the prism of
the
present.”
“As someone who is a product
of the Deeply Rooted process—
artist,
choreographer, Dance
Education director—it is an
honor to now serve the
company in this capacity,”
Clarke-Springer commented. “It
is important
to me to maintain
both the spiritual and artistic
integrity for which
the company
is known as well as create spaces
for new voices that not
only are
inspired by our mission but look to
reaffirm it in new and
imaginative
ways.”
“Reaffirmed/Reimagined”
features revivals of two
classic DRDT works.
Essence – A Portrait of
Four Women
(1972) by
Haitian-American
choreographer Martial
Roumain, shows the
lives of four women of
color—a domestic
worker, a high-value
prostitute,
a biracial
African-Latina woman
navigating two worlds,
and an urban
woman
surviving through
race-based rage—
intersecting on an
emotional
journey of
self-actualization and
sisterhood, set to
music by legendary
songstresses Nina
Simone, Zulema,
Roberta Flack, and
Nikki Giovanni with
the James Cleveland
Choir. Kevin Iega
Jeff’s Dedication (1982)
depicts an ancestral
elder passing the legacy
of life onto children of
the new world, set
to music by Quincy
Jones, Clause Ogerman,
and Patti
Austin.
Also on the program
are three works
from the company
repertoire. DRDT Co-
Founder and Associate
Artistic Director Gary
Abbott’s Parallel
Lives (2017)
is a
contemporary narrative
inspired by poor, working
women who have
shared life-changing
events, both beautiful
and tragic, with original
music by Evangelos
Spanos based on Vivaldi’s
“La Folia.” Nicole
Clarke-
Springer’s Forces (2018)
explores spiritual
influences on daily
consciousness, with
music by Marcelo Zarvos.
When Men
(2016), by
company and Artistic
Team member Joshua L.
Ishmon, considers
the
idea of abandoning
stigmas to strengthen
from within, with music
by
Ananda Giri and Paolo
Nutini and text by Charlie
Chaplin.
Along with DRDT
repertoire, the
December 14 and 15
performances include
Gesem, East of the Nile,
a preview of a full-length
work, premiering in spring
2020, that brings
together DRDT and
Grammy
Award-winning
producer/songwriter/gospel
This theatrical experience
melds elements of choral,
hip-hop,
trap-jazz, and
inspirational music with
inspirational dance
theater. The
December
preview features
original music by
Lawrence, a choral
e
nsemble, and the DRDT
dancers.
Special performances for
youth and senior
audiences Wednesday,
December
11 at 10 a.m.
and noon feature
excerpts from this
season’s repertoire.
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Deeply Rooted Dance
Theater’s “Reaffirmed/
Reimagined” takes
place Friday, December
13 at 7 p.m.; Saturday,
December 14 at 7:30
p.m.; and Sunday,
December 15 at 6 p.m.
at the Reva and David
Logan Center for the
Arts on the University
of Chicago campus,
915 E. 60th Street,
Chicago.
Tickets are $45
general admission; a
$150 ticket for any
performance
provides additional
support to Deeply
Rooted and,
on Friday, December
13 only, includes a
post-performance VIP
reception.
Tickets for the youth/
senior performances
on Wednesday,
December 11
at 10 a.m. and noon
are $10.
For all tickets, call
(312) 795-9777 or visit
All programming is
subject to change.
For more information,
visit
Premiering in 1996,
Deeply Rooted Dance
Theater
(DRDT) is rooted
in traditions of modern,
contemporary, and
African
dance, as well
as storytelling, in
universal themes that
spark a
visceral
experience and ignite
an emotional
response in
diverse
audiences worldwide.
Collaborating with
nationally renowned
choreographers across
the spectrum of
modern, ballet, and
African dance,
DRDT
presents work that
reflects eclectic
voices in contemporary
life.
Deeply
Rooted’s
programs are partially
supported by the
Alphawood Foundation
Chicago, Arts Work
Fund and Smart
Growth program
of the Chicago
Community Trust,
Chicago Park District’s
Night Out in the
Parks Program,
Ginger Farley
Charitable Fund at
the Chicago
Community
Foundation,
Gaylord and
Dorothy Donnelley
Foundation, John
D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation,
Illinois Arts Council
Agency, International
Association of Blacks
in Dance, Martha
Struthers Farley and
Donald C.
Farley Jr.
Family Foundation,
Reva and David
Logan Foundation,
the
Richard H.
Driehaus Foundation
and the Deeply
Rooted Family of
Friends.
Special thanks
to Ballet Chicago,
Chicago Dancemakers
Forum, Chicago
Community Trust,
Chicago Park District,
Reva and David
Logan Center, and
St.
Benedict the African
Church for their
partnership and support.
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Photos top to bottom:
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
in Parallel Lives. Photo by
Michelle Reid.
Deeply Rooted Dance
Theater dancers (L–R) Briana
Arthur, Paige Fraser, Joshua
Henry, and William Roberson
in Forces. Photo by Michelle
Reid.
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
dancers (L–R) Pierre Clark,
William Roberson, and Joshua
Henry in When Men. Photo by
Ken Carl.
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