September 6, 2005

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, one of the hottest contemporary dance companies, makes its Santa Barbara debut at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Ronald K. Brown/Evidence
• Ronald K. Brown is one of his generation’s most acclaimed choreographers
• Brown’s choreography fuses storytelling, African movement, jazz and hip-hop with intense spirituality
• The program features his masterful Come Ye, inspired by Nina Simone
• Tuesday, October 11 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $38 / UCSB students: $19
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

The eight-member contemporary dance company Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, hailed by The New York Times for its “fireball intensity,” will perform on Tuesday, October 11 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Ronald K. Brown—choreographer of some of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s most triumphant recent works—has created a unique movement language influenced by the fast paced, rhythmic movements of Africa for his own company Evidence. “As a modern-dance choreographer, Ronald K. Brown has moved over the last 15 years into a class by of himself,” writes Anna Kisselgoff in The New York Times. “The depth of his work lies in an original high-energy idiom drawn from various sources and in the way this vocabulary fuses with his themes. These themes are spiritual, and even those who do not believe there is a promised land might agree that Mr. Brown makes a journey in that direction look persuasive and powerful.”

The company’s performance will include the masterful work Come Ye, set to music by blues great Nina Simone and Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Upon the piece’s debut in New York the Associated Press claimed, “At times joyous and relaxed, at times defiant and almost militaristic, Ronald K. Brown’s new Come Ye moves between the sacred and profane.” The rest of the program will feature dances set to music by Oumou Sangare, Roy Davis, Jr., and Duke Ellington.

Brooklyn born, Brown founded Evidence in 1985. The company has gone on to perform at numerous venues in New York and abroad including seasons at Performance Space 122, Dance Theater Workshop, The Joyce Theater, Aaron Davis Hall, National Black Arts Festival, American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance, Bates Dance Festival, Lyon/Biennale de la Danse and Exit Festival. In addition to his work with Evidence, Brown has created work for African American Dance Ensemble, Philadanco, Cleo Parker Robinson, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (in collaboration with Donald McKayle), Maimouna Keita West African Dance School, Def Dance Jam Workshop, Ailey II and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Brown has received numerous awards and fellowships including a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers’ Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Choreography, Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund Fellowship, a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) and a Black Theater Alliance Award. In 2000 he was named a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow in Choreography and Def Dance Jam Mentor of the Year.

Brown also serves as co-curator (with poet Cheryl Boyce Taylor) for Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center’s Toenails of Steel and Ruby Red Text Series and sits on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Blacks in Dance and Dance USA. He is a former Board Member of Black Pride NYC.

The audience is welcome to stay after the performance for a Meet-the-Artist discussion with Ronald K. Brown.

Members of the company will teach a Community Dance Class on Monday, October 10 at 7:30 pm at S.B. Jazz Dance Academy, 1 N. Calle Cesar Chavez, Ste. 100. It costs $15 for participants and $5 for observers. This event is sponsored the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance; for information and to make a reservation, please phone (805) 966-6950.

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by Holiday Inn Express/Hotel Virginia. The group’s residency is supported in part by the Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the SB County Arts Commission, and by the Western States Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Concert tickets are $38 for the general public and $19 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.