The American Dance Festival
Durham, North Carolina
June 5 - July 19, 2003
Every summer, the art of movement takes a giant leap
forward at the American
Dance Festival, housed on the Duke University campus in Durham,
North Carolina.
The
six-week extravaganza of dance presents
the most cutting-edge modern dance companies in the nation, and the world,
in concert, as well as a full palette of special events and classes for
dance students, dance educators, dance historians, and just plain fans.
The 2003 season is the 70th anniversary of the American
Dance Festival. Featured this year are an International lineup of
companies from France, India, Russia, Japan, China, Taiwan and the U.S.
Many famous dance troupes return to the American Dance
Festival year after year.
Pilobolus
Dance Theatre visits annually and has premiered some of its
most famous works at the ADF. This year Pilobolus performs June 10-14.
Twyla
Tharp, choreographer of Billy Joel's Broadway musical Movin
Out,
comes to Durham to perform an ADF-commissioned world premier June 26-28,
2003.
The
Paul Taylor Dance Company provided the hit of the 2002 ADF
season with a new work, Promethean
Fire, called "the number one dance moment of the
year" by the dance critic of the New York Times. This year,
Taylor returns with the much-anticipated sequel, July 3-5.
The
American Dance Festival (ADF) features many world premieres and works
commissioned by the Festival. Performances take place on Duke University’s
West Campus in Page Auditorium and other nearby venues.
Kids get very special treatment at the American Dance
Festival with the Kids
Night Out program. For certain performances, one children's
ticket (ages 6-16) comes free with every adult ticket. (Request the additional
ticket when you make reservations.) Also, Pilobolus performs a
special Children's Performance at 1 pm, June 14.
Many free
events are open to the public during the American Dance Festival, as well.
These include a series of Dance History Seminars, and Dancing
for the Camera International Festival
of Film
and Video Dance
(June 27-29).
You can also take a free guided tour of American Dance Festival classes
on Duke's East Campus.
A new series
of free dance concerts,
Opening Acts, debuts this year, with concerts on Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 PM See the ADF's website
for dates and locations.
Another
series of free performances involve performance dance artists Eiko
& Koma who will present open air performances at various
venues around the Triangle area from June 27 to July 8. Visit the ADF
website for specifics. The Japanese duo will present the critically
acclaimed Offering,
a tribute to the victims of 9/11, and Tree, a new work commissioned
by the ADF.
(If you
happen to be in New York City, June 18-22, you can catch Offering
there, performed in the St. Marks Church Garden, part of the Dancing
in the Streets series of site-specific dance events.)
We're looking
forward to seeing Eiko & Koma in daylight. Maybe we'll be able to
tell what's going on this time. You can read our review of their ADF performance
in 2000,
the appropriately named When
Nights Were Dark, by clicking
here. We found it, well, dark...
The American Dance Festival website www.americandancefestival.org
details each of the many ADF programs. The
Links
page has numerous connections to various dance company websites
(some of them works of art themselves), as well as information on visiting
Durham. You
can buy tickets
online, or call the box office at 919 684-4444. For information
on programs, or to make reservations for a campus tour, call 919 684-6402.
— Renee Wright
Coming
This Week... Pascal Rioult & Maguy
Marin
