www.kultur.com

The American Dance Festival presents Dancing in the Light, a one-hour modern dance television program showcasing 6 historic dance compositions by African American choreographers. All of the dances were originally recorded for the Emmy Award-winning series Free to Dance, a three-hour documentary that aired on PBS in 2001 as part of the Great Performances: Dance in America series.

While Free to Dance uses select excerpts from the dances to inform its narrative within a historical context, Dancing in the Light features six dances in their entirety or in the case of one work, a complete section.

AWASSA ASTRIGE / OSTRICH (1932)
Choreography: by: Asadata Dafora
Performed by: G. D. Harris, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company

BARRELHOUSE BLUES - excerpt (1938)
Choreography by: Katherine Dunham
Performed by: Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble

STRANGE FRUIT (1943)
Choreography by: Pearl Primus
Performed by: Dawn Marie Watson, Philadanco

MOURNER'S BENCH (1947)
Choreography by: Talley Beatty
Performed by: Jerome Stigler, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company

RAINBOW 'ROUND MY SHOULDER (1959)
Choreography by: Donald McKayle
Performed by: Dayton Contemporary Dance Company

D-MAN IN THE WATERS - Section 1 (1989)
Choreography by: Bill T. Jones
Performed by: Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company

"...this powerful sextet is equally important both as artistic performances and as dance history. Recommended."
- Video Librarian