by Latrisha McDuffie, NDG Staff
Every parent should take their child to see the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. In a world where the only images of beauty are of barely clad pop stars dancing provocatively on BET’s 106 and Park, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre program under the direction of Ann Williams, paints a picture of true beauty and elegance with dance. The company presented the Cultural Awareness Series at the Wyly Theatre. The night began with In*ter*pret set to Peter I. Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C major and choreographed by Hope Boykin (2005). The dancers moved spiritedly across the stage like children on a playground setting a gaily mood.
The mood shifts dramatically as the program moved into the second piece. Nycole Ray danced to Donald McKayle’s Angelitos Negros (1972), set to music composed by Manuel Alvarez Maciste and sung by the incomparable Roberta Flack in Spanish. In a white flowing dress designed by Beth Thomason of Designs Unique, Ray was a vision. Fusing the passion of flamenco and the grace of the ballet, Ray moved through the air like notes from a Spanish Guitar. In one word, Ray’s performance was; stunning. I couldn’t breathe throughout her entire performance.
Amber J. Merrick and Jamie Thompson were brilliant in Milton Myers’ Pacing (1986), set to Francis Bebey of Cameroon. The suite was a mishmash of African and European-infused movements and highlighted powerful torso action and linear pattern complemented by a provocative musical arrangement.
The show closed with Dianne McIntyre’s, The Nina Simone Project, a tribute to the High Priestess of Soul with autobiographical narration performed by Melissa M. Young. The Nina Simone Project was set to the soundtrack of Simone’s life and chronicles her journey from the church in North Carolina churches to love, and through the Civil Rights era. I found “Backlash Blues” and “Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter,” to be absolutely divine.
The Dallas Black Dance Theatre II will restage Bruce Wood’s Smoke for their annual performance series, “Spring Fiesta” at the Latino Cultural Center March 2 -3, 2012. DBDT II Director, Nycole Ray, will present her work “Love Songs” and Richard A. Freeman Jr. choreographs his premiere work “Agony.” Tickets can be purchased online at www.DBDT.com.
