Informal Showing Title: Onyx work-in-progress
ADF is pleased to host free informal showings of dance pieces in-progress in our Scripps Studio.
Masks and proof of vaccination are required for entry. Space is limited and registration is required.
For any questions, please contact Jennifer Scully-Thurston at jscullythurston@americandancefestival.org
Onyx digs into the origins of rock and roll revealing the Black and Brown people whose sounds, performances, and personalities created this revolutionary genre. Through the setting of improvisational scores, character embodiment, and flowing phrase work, Onyx reflects on the fame, influence, appropriation, and erasure that riddled so many Black and Brown artists. Back-up routines in the dance are inspired by Motown choreographer Cholly Atkins. Allusions to Lindy Hop and moshing are suggested to depict the queer, sensual, and punk nature of rock. Through an embodiment of history, Onyx serves to recognize and celebrate these groundbreaking musicians while widening our perspective of the Black American cultural experience.
This 40-minute dance features a cast of five performers, Bree Breeden, Niara Hardister, Kyle Marshall, Nik Owens, and Cayleen Del Rosario. Costumes are designed by KMC visual director Edo Tastic and constructed by Meagan Woods. Lighting will be by Itohan Edoloyi, KMC’s resident designer. The soundtrack, shaped by sound artist Kwami Winfield, incorporates original noise with samples of text and songs by groundbreaking rock and rollers including Little Richard, Betty Davis, DEATH, James Brown, LaVern Baker, Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, Big Mama Thorton, and Sister Rosetta Tharp.
About the Company
“A choreographic voice like no one else’s” (The New York Times). Founded in 2014, Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC) is a company that sees the dancing body as a container of history, an igniter of social reform, and a site of celebration. KMC believes in the creation, sharing, and teaching of dance as a way to deepen our knowledge of who we are as individuals, how we develop relationships, and ultimately societies.
KMC has performed at venues including BAM Next Wave Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Joe’s Pub, Roulette, Actors Fund Arts Center, The Shed, Chelsea Factory, Philadelphia’s FringeArts, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, and The New World Center. Commissions have included Baryshnikov Arts Center, “Dance on the Lawn” Montclair Dance Festival, NJPAC, and Harlem Stage. KMC has received residences from County Prep High School, 92nd St Y, CPR, the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, and MANA Contemporary Performance Residency Program. The company is currently in residence at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU.
Initial research for this project was supported by a 2021 Caroline A. Hearst Choreography Fellowship from Princeton University. Onyx is co-commissioned by the American Dance Festival and The Joyce Theater and will premiere at Virginia Commonwealth University on October 1st, 2022. Gratitude goes to the Monira Foundation at MANA Contemporary and The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU for generous residency time to build the work.