Brown University Family Weekend Dance Concert Showcases Eclectic Program

Cameron Donald '14 (left) and Nic Baird '14 (right) (Photo: Flordelino Lagundino)

During Brown University’s upcoming Family Weekend, the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies will present an eclectic mix of new and established choreography in the annual Family Weekend Dance Concert.

This year’s concert features choreography by Stephanie Turner; Brown dancers in a new work by Gwi Young Bae; and Dance Extension, Brown’s resident student dance company, in works by Donald McKayle, David Parsons, and Brown alumna, Meg Weeks. Weeks will also perform her solo piece, Untitled (Roof Dance), with video by Brown alumnus, Jomo Fray. Vocals for McKayle’s piece will be performed live by an a cappella men’s quartet from RPM Voices of Rhode Island.

Stephanie Turner is a dance artist and educator based in Providence, RI. She is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University, visiting artist at Rhode Island School of Design and facilitates Contact Improv Providence.  

Gwi Young Bae is a South Korean performer and choreographer who last visited Providence in 2012. She holds a Ph.D. in Dance & Medicine in South Korea and her choreography has been seen all over the world. Her piece, A Trip to Myself, explores our ability to understand the relationship of life to our existence and to live a life worth living.

Meg Weeks, originally from New Hampshire, graduated magna cum laude with an honors BA in History from Brown University. She has performed with Shen Wei Dance Arts and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and currently dances with Helen Simoneau Danse.

Set against the new pieces of Turner, Bae, and Weeks, Dance Extension will perform work by Donald McKayle and David Parsons. McKayle and Parsons are legends of the dance community and access to their work is made possible by the work of the American Dance Legacy Initiative (ADLI). ADLI produces innovative materials and programs designed to engage artists, educators, and the general public with participatory viewing and dancing experiences that connect with American heritage, building a dance literate public.

Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, a faculty member in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University, produces the concert. Bach-Coulibaly is a performance artist and educator who, since coming to Brown in 1987, has created over 40 original pieces of contemporary movement theatre for the concert stage that investigate socio-political canvases, cross-cultural narratives, and embodied texts. 

The concert will be held in the intimate Ashamu Studio in Lyman Hall on campus at Brown University. The studio offers both traditional theatre seating, and floor cushions for an even closer (and cheaper) view of the action.

Family Weekend Dance Concert runs October 24th - 26th in Ashamu Studio, 83 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912. Performances at 8pm on Friday and Saturday. Sunday matinee at 2pm. Tickets are available through the Brown Theatre Box Office. Tickets: $15 ($12 seniors, $7 students). Floor cushions are availabe for $5. For ticket sales and more information: call (401) 863-2838, or visit the Box Office in the Leeds Theatre Lobby (83 Waterman St, Providence),Tuesday - Friday from 12pm - 4pm, or email boxoffice@brown.edu. To book online, visit: brown.edu/tickets.

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