Power, skill and precision meld onstage for contemporary modern dance company Philadanco’s 40th anniversary season kick-off event at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15, 2009. Founder and Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown will join the ensemble onstage in a special cameo appearance, her first performance in over 30 years, to commemorate this milestone.

The program will include the world premiere of Bolero by Christopher L. Huggins, choreographed to music by Ravel; Daniel Ezralow’s Pulse, described as a “hypnotic opus” set to a spellbinding original score by David Lang of Bang on a Can; Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s The Walkin’, Talkin’, Signifying Blue Hips and Lowdown Throwdown (Batty Moves); and George Faison’s Suite Otis, which the New York Times calls a “vibrant tribute.”

Philadanco’s 40th anniversary season recently included the debut of a new ballet by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar at the opening of the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh; the piece is co-commissioned by the Kimmel Center to make its Philadelphia debut in the 40th anniversary spring dance recital, scheduled for April 15-18, 2010. The dance troupe is also scheduled for a European tour in September 2010.

Founder and Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown to Perform Onstage with Ensemble!

Joan Myers Brown is a revered choreographer and dancer, who pioneered an alternative path for African Americans to become professionally trained dancers post-civil rights era. A trailblazer in her own right, she helped young emerging dancers and choreographers find a voice and place in the dance world by founding the following organizations:

• The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in Philadelphia (1960)
• Contemporary modern dance company Philadanco in (1970)
• Coalition of African American Cultural Organizations in Philadelphia, co-founder (1986)
• International Conference of Black Dance Companies (1988)
• International Association of Blacks in Dance (1991)

Born in Philadelphia on Christmas Day in l931, Joan Myers Brown began training with the Ballet Guild in Philadelphia at age seven. She also trained at the Sydney-Marion School in Philadelphia, Pa., a pre-civil rights classical ballet school for African American dancers. Thereafter, Brown moved to New York in 1951 on a ballet scholarship to study at The Dunham School, and began her professional career with performances of choreographed works with The Savar Dancers at Café Montmarte in Montreal, Canada, as well as tours to Quebec City and Toronto. She has danced at the legendary Cab Calloway Cotton Club Revue, warmed up performers such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Pearl Bailey, Billy Eckstein and Billy Daniels, among other greats.

Currently, Brown is a visiting professor at the University of the Arts and a member of the dance faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia (2004) and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pa. (2007). The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts also honored her as a Master of African American Choreography in 2005. Additional accolades include the “Dance Women: Living Legends” tributary honor bestowed in 1997 and a Dance Magazine Award in 2006.

Philadanco has a long history as Philadelphia’s premiere modern contemporary dance company: it is one of the first companies to hire dancers on a 52 week salary; the first to own housing for the dancers; and the first to own a debt-free facility. Philadanco presents wide-ranging repertoire of highly athletic material rooted in jazz, ballet and modern dance traditions. The company continues to consistently tour more than any Philadelphia cultural organization, performing as many as 50-60 concerts and 45 residencies annually.

In 2005, Philadanco was one of 14 companies to receive the prestigious American Masterpieces Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The company has performed at Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Joyce and the Delacorte in New York City as well as major venues throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

Tickets for Philadanco are $34 and $46 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.

Philadanco
Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 7:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2009 | 7:30pm
Saturday, November 14, 2009 | 2:30pm
Saturday, November 14, 2009 | 7:30pm
Sunday, November 15, 2009 | 2:30pm

Perelman Theate at the KIMMEL CENTER, INC. · 260 South Broad Street on the Avenue of the Arts

DANNY EZRALOW: Pulse
CHRISTOPHER L. HUGGINS: Bolero (World Premiere)
JAWOLE WILLA JO ZOLLAR: The Walkin’, Talkin’, Signifying Blue Hips, Lowdown Throwdown (Batty Moves)
GEORGE FAISON: Suite Otis

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | Post-Show
Perelman Theater Stage | Artist Chat
This performance will conclude with an Artist Chat featuring the evening’s dancers, Founder and Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown and Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming Tom Warner.