…as body speaks
We fell utterly in love with these two after collaborating on Trust The Bus and qUuest wiRx! We are elated they will kick off our performances on November 3rd at 8:30!!
Continue reading “Revolutionaries in the Dark: Evil English”
We are thrilled to present Marco & Elise from Raleigh Tango! Please read on to know more about these amazing dancers, visit their websites, and get tickets to come to our annual fundraiser event!
Continue reading “Revolutionaries in the Dark: Tango Demonstration”
WE LOVE DJ PLAYPLAY!! And yes, this means the after party will be epic. PlayPlay is a Durham, North Carolina-based DJ, producer, music scholar and activist. PlayPlay creatively interweaves nostalgic hip-hop and house classics into both their DJ sets and music production, and lately has been experimenting with improvisational synthesizer sets. They are also an energetic force behind several parties in the area, including long-running 80’s & 90’s themed parties, traveling hi-energy party Club PlayPlay, & the The Pinhook‘s Party Illegal (on hiatus). PlayPlay will be releasing their debut EP on Knightwerk in December.
Please visit our Annual Fundraiser event page to purchase tickets and find more information on Revolutionaries in the Dark event.
We are honored to kick off the VIP hour with our Inspired Guest Speaker Pierce Freelon! Pierce is a musician, professor and artivist with a passion for creativity and community. Want to know more about this inspiring individual? Read on.
Continue reading “Revolutionaries in the Dark VIP hour with Pierce Freelon”
We were excited to present “I Promise (excepts)” at Loose Leaves Showcase in Charlotte, NC. This showcase “presents Charlotte’s most diverse dance showcase featuring new and unexpected dance works by local Charlotte choreographers.” For more pictures and information please see Loose Leaves Fall 2017 Facebook event page.
Above you will see my treasures; an incredible cast of strong individuals, each an artist in their own right. We began making this work over a year ago and quite similarly to the social climate of our country, it has been a struggle. And its for certain about struggle. And its about all of the things we can not say about this kind of struggle, which is where the walls we push against began. It is where our dance began as well. It is why in the end, we did not need literal walls to feel it.
The evening’s final work was a marvelous surprise, and although it utilized spoken texts and songs, it is resistant to wordy explanation. By Shaleigh Comerford and the dancers of her company, with textual assistance from playwright Richard Kirkwood and music written and performed on stage by cellist Isabel Castellvi and pianist Randall Love, Dedicated to [ ] Because of [ ] (and Vice Versa), improbably combines six female dancers in short pale satin gowns with metal folding chairs and – actor Derrick Ivey.
Comerford’s dance language, with its mix of Gaga-style freedom of movement and balletic elegance, is well suited to the complex balance of dance theatre. The ensemble’s rather gorgeous fluidity and sharp repetitions – and their strange actions, both seductive and evasive – encounter Ivey’s massive physicality like ocean waves meeting offshore rock.
Friday night saw the premiere of an intriguing new work by ShaLeigh Comerford for her small, mutable company, ShaLeigh Dance Works as part of the first Durham Independent Dance Artists (DIDA) season. Aló will repeat May 2 in a large, handsome room in The Reality Center.
Comerford is a versatile dance artist who teaches at Elon University, as well as at two of Durham’s non-ADF studios (two of her current dancers also teach at Ninth Street Dance).
By SUSAN BROILI, Special to The Herald-Sun
Durham, NC 5/3/2015
ShaLeigh Dance Works’ world premiere of “Alo” conjured an experience Saturday at Reality Ministries. This was the last in a two-day run presented under the auspices of Durham Independent Dance Artists.
The space itself cast a spell even before this dance theater work began. Who would have thought, from the old building’s brick exterior, that it contained such a beautiful, evocative space with a high, domed ceiling?
It’s no whim that choreographer ShaLeigh Comerford chose to have the audience sit in a circle for the premiere of her evening-length work, “Aló.” That premiere, presented by Durham Independent Dance Artists (DIDA), takes place Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, at Reality Ministries in Durham.
The seating configuration fits into the nature of that work as well as Comerford’s overall mission. “The circle is a metaphor for unity and connection,” the choreographer said in a telephone interview. “‘Aló’ speaks to multiculturalism, to ways we connect to each other through the experience of our hearts,” she added.