PHILADANCO! with their Thrilling Season Opener, "Intangible Influences"

KIMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS PRESENTS PHILADANCO! WITH THEIR THRILLING SEASON OPENER, INTANGIBLE INFLUENCES, DECEMBER 8 – 10, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 1, 2023) – The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents the triumphant return of PHILADANCO!, the renowned Philadelphia Dance Company, to the Perelman Theater with their new show, Intangible Influences. PHILADANCO! will captivate audiences from Friday, December 8 through Sunday, December 10, 2023.

In Intangible Influences, audiences will experience the revival of a neoclassical ballet created by the legendary Gene Hill Sagan, along with thrilling new choreography by acclaimed artist Christopher L. Huggins. The captivating work of PHILADANCO! alumnus Nijawwon Matthews will also be showcased, as will the premiere of a groundbreaking piece by Christopher Rudd, which seamlessly blends contemporary ballet and circus arts.

PHILADANCO!, founded by the legendary Joan Myers Brown, is famous for its artistic integrity, highly trained dancers, and electrifying performances. Founded in 1970, PHILADANCO!’s legacy is a blazing trail of bridging cultures and tearing down barriers through mesmerizing movement. With its original mission of providing Black dancers with performance opportunities, the company’s eye for inclusion has infused every performance with invigorating energy for diverse audiences. Using both its platform and hope for a better future, PHILADANCO! also commits itself to empowering youth with developmental and leadership skills that facilitate achievement and success in the world of dance and beyond.

“Each season, we are honored to present PHILADANCO!, a storied company known for its legacy of invention, creativity, and protection of African American traditions in dance,” said Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center. “Intangible Influences brings together a powerhouse artistic team for one extraordinary weekend of performances blending classical ballet and contemporary movement.”

“Over the past five decades of PHILADANCO’S existence, there have been many choreographic geniuses who have left an indelible mark on the company and its performers. Their creative passion inspired and influenced generations of artistic and creative voices. Intangible Influences will show works, original and new, that have an intangible quality to them. The works are ethereal and abstract, representing complex concepts that require the dancers and the audience to embrace an evolving continuum of movement and emotion,” said Kim Bears Bailey, Artistic Director of PHILADANCO!.

About the Choreographers:

Gene Hill Sagan, a Philadelphia native and PHILADANCO!’s resident choreographer for 15 years, was influenced by ballet, modern, and jazz dance with an emphasis on slightly obscure themes and sensuous swirling movements to suit the dancers. Sagan choreographed for the Philadelphia Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Batsheva and Bat D’Or companies of Isreal, where he was a resident and worker for 15 years. Sagan’s piece “Transposed Images” for the Israel Classic Ballet was praised as the “most interesting choreography”.

Christopher L. Huggins, former member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, is the 2002 recipient of the Ira Aldridge Award for Best Choreography from the Black Theater Alliance for his work “Enemy Behind the Gates” for PHILADANCO!. Huggins is also a 2002 and 2008 recipient of the Alvin Ailey Award for Best Choreography from the Black Theater Alliance in Chicago. Huggins attended SUNY Purchase and The Julliard School and was a scholarship student at The Ailey School. Huggins produces commissions for Ailey II and The Ailey School and has also set works at countless of universities and high schools throughout the United States. He is also a 2021 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow.

Nijawwon Matthews, PHILADANCO! alumnus and internationally acclaimed director, choreographer, educator, and dancer, was selected as The Director’s Choice for the 2019 Dallas Black Dance Theater season and commissioned to choreograph new work for the company. Recently, Matthews was a dance soloist featured in actress Glenn Close’s and musician Ted Nash’s “Transformation: Personal Stories of Chance, Acceptance, and Evolution” for Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Matthews is currently a resident teaching artist and choreographer in New York City at the Broadway Dance Centre and the Joffrey Ballet School. Matthews finds inspiration through collaborations and continues to spread his artistry around the world.

Christopher Rudd, Jamaican born dance-maker and 2019 Guggenheim Choreography Fellow, blends contemporary ballet with contemporary circus to speak to relevant social issues. At 11 years old, Rudd became the first Black child to dance the title role in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Rudd has performed in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and with The Metropolitan Opera for three seasons, as well as a guest performance with the Philadelphia Ballet. Rudd founded RudduR Dance in 2015 to celebrate and create works of high artistic merit and as a platform to better the world through dance. The company blends contemporary ballet with different genres of dance to theatrically speak through social issues. RudduR Dance presented works on four continents in four years and made their Summer Stage debut in the Juneteenth Tribute on June 19, 2020.

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With its homebase on Philadanco Way in West Philadelphia, PHILADANCO! provides one of the nation’s most state-of-the-art and successful dance training programs. A myriad of company support systems and intensive training enable dancers to hone their talent and refine their technical skills, preparing them with skills for life after performing. Often described as “a brilliant mix of miracle of skill, energy and artistry, fascinating and thrilling,” and performers with “virtuoso physicality,” PHILADANCO! dancers are among the best in the world.                     

The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) is a nonprofit organization presenting the highest quality of professional dance performance. The intensely welcoming company is home for emerging and professional dancers and choreographers, providing creative space for these visionaries while increasing the appreciation of dance among its many communities. Across the nation and around the world, PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation and preservation of African American traditions in dance, breaking barriers, and advocating for access and inclusion.

Other featured upcoming performances on the Kimmel Cultural Campus include Rumours of Fleetwood Mac (November 7, 2023, Miller Theater); Company (November 28 – December 10, 2023, The Shubert Organization’s Forrest Theatre); A Very Philly Christmas (December 1 – 23, 2023, Verizon Hall); Samara Joy: A Joyful Holiday featuring The McLendon Family (December 22, 2023, Miller Theater); and Cirque Dreams Holidaze (December 26 – December 31, 2023, Miller Theater). 

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or online at www.kimmelculturalcampus.org. In-person ticket sales can be conducted daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the Academy of Music Box Office, located at 240 S. Broad Street. See www.kimmelculturalcampus.org for more information.

PHILADANCO! Intangible Influences

Perelman Theater on the Kimmel Cultural Campus

Friday, December 8, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 9, 2023, 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 10, 2023, 2:00 p.m.

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KIMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS

Located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, our mission is to engage the region's diverse communities with art through performance and education. Our Cultural Campus serves more than 1-million guests per year and includes Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, and SEI Innovation Studio), the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater (formerly the Merriam Theater) – representing more than 160 years of rich history for the performing arts along Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. We are home to The Philadelphia Orchestra and esteemed Resident Companies: Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Curtis Institute of Music. With nearly 9,000 seats per night, we are the region's most impactful performing arts center, and the second largest in the country. Our Cultural Campus serves as a preeminent and inclusive place to enjoy exceptional experiences that reflect the spirit of our region by cultivating a creative and socially responsible environment where our community shares experiences that are delivered with pride, integrity, and respect. As a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization, we collaborate on, present, and produce a broad range of relevant and meaningful events, we serve as an active gathering space for social and community events, we educate the region's young people through access to quality arts experiences, and we provide support to artists in the creation of new work. Read Kimmel Cultural Campus' vision statement, world view, and mission statement here. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it encompasses our mission, coworkers, and programs here.

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For a PDF version of this press release, click here.