Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater: “Reaffirmed/Reimagined” Dec. 13–15


DEEPLY ROOTED DANCE THEATER PRESENTS

“REAFFIRMED/REIMAGINED”
DEC. 13–15 AT LOGAN CENTER
Revivals, Repertoire, Special Project Preview on Programs



offers classic revivals, company 
repertoire, and a preview of a 
collaboration with Grammy Award-
winning gospel artist Donald Lawrence 
for its fall season, 
“Reaffirmed/Reimagined.” 
Performances take place December 
13–15 at the Reva and David Logan 
Center for the Arts on the University 
of Chicago campus, 915 E. 60th 
Street, Chicago.

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 
artist Donald Lawrence
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.

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.
###
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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