Since 1968, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) has championed a movement legacy rooted in the African American experience. The company returns to The Joyce with three electrifying works that uplift Black choreographic voices and integrate historic modern dance works. Ray Mercer’s energetic This I Know For Sure reveals the creative dialogue between a choreographer and the dancers, giving a peek into an artist’s mind. Paying homage to the renowned painter Jacob Lawrence and his portrayals of Black life in America, Rennie Harris’ Jacob’s Ladder focuses on Lawrence’s scenes of urban life. Melding streetdance storytelling with music by Zap Mama, Harris captures Lawrence’s “freedom of voice, mind, and body.”
In a historic restaging, DCDC becomes the first African American dance company to welcome Paul Taylor’s 1975 exuberant masterpiece Esplanade into its repertoire. “Part of the beauty of dance is it’s held in the vessel of the dancers,” says Artistic Director Debbie Blunden-Diggs. “For me, it broadens the scope of who DCDC is as a repertory African-American dance company.”
