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International Women's Day Soiree and premiere of Dancepatheatre's Caution: Women at Work

Presented by Dancepatheatre at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex

March 8, 2009

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Dancepatheatre premieres Caution: Women at Work at its International Women’s Day Soiree. The themes of women and identity at various stages of life, and of healing racism, intertwine to create a reflection on women, race, and identity through personal stories and insights.  This forty-minute work is representative of Dancepatheatre’s hallmark of fusing modern dance with story, word, and voice.

Choreography is by Artistic Director Sara Draper with poetry by African American poet Donna Garrett (pictured).   Dancers Lindsey McGill and Catalina Molnari perform Draper’s choreography during Garrett’s powerful spoken word performances of four poems. The jazz music for three of Garrett’s poems was recorded in Taipei, Taiwan, specifically for Garrett’s poetry performances when she was there by invitation to perform in the country’s Black History Month.

Garrett’s piece, We Live is an unflinching look at the inequities in African American history and a tribute to the strength of an oppressed people. My Story is just that…Garrett’s life story as she looks back on her childhood growing up in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement, and how those sights and sounds affected her during her formative years. It culminates in Garrett singing a traditional hymn acappella. Jazz introduces a lighter aspect of identity as Garrett celebrates the musical joy she feels.

Draper dances her solo, Calves, playing with memories of pubescent identity influenced by old Hollywood movies. Draper also performs her monologue, Not (1991), a denial of racism in the family that leads to transformational insight. (Not is published in the 1990-1991 Women’s Works Collaborative Project anthology.) The production ends on a reflective, upbeat note with Garrett’s In My Lifetime, where she muses on the positive changes that she, along with society, has traversed.

The production will be punctuated by a presentation made to Cherry Steinwender to honor her for her contributions to humanity as Founder and Co-Director of the Center for the Healing of Racism.

Barnevelder, 2201 Preston @ Hutchins. Tickets include 7:00pm wine reception, 7:30pm theatre performance and presentation, 8:30pm dinner and silent auction.