Home Food Lifestyle DCDC heading to China for cultural dance festival

DCDC heading to China for cultural dance festival

0

DAYTON — Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is heading abroad again — this time traveling to China to perform in the DANCE STAGES Shanghai Dance Festival.

The dance festival aims to build a bridge between modern dancers & famous Chinese & foreign art institution, promote international cultural exchanges, and push Chinese modern dance to the world. The first DANCE STAGES Shanghai Dance Festival was held in 2016 to critical acclaim. It is sponsored by Shanghai Honor Culture Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Broadway Culture Co., Ltd.

DCDC will be performing “This I Know For Sure,” a work commissioned from choreographer & Broadway star Ray Mercer in 2017.

“To be chosen to perform in China is a blessing and speaks to the depth of our international reach and the impact of our on stage message,” says Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders, Chief Executive Officer of DCDC.

DCDC will join 26 other dance companies from 17 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain, Spain & Italy. The festival includes master classes, cultural exchanges with the dancers and networking among international artists.

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to share DCDC’s signature contemporary dance abroad,” says Artistic Director Debbie Blunden-Diggs. “This is an opportunity to be a cultural ambassador for the United States, using dance as a way to bring people together through this prolific art form.”

DCDC will also participate in cultural exchange activities with the US Consulate in Shanghai including working with local students and a performance and talk for university students in Suzhou in conjunction with University of Dayton China Institute. University of Dayton is a sponsor of DCDC’s 50th Anniversary Season Touring, in addition to ongoing university partner.

The China tour will mark the second time in a year that DCDC is taking its dance art overseas. The company traveled to Kazakhstan & Russia in May through the U.S. State Department’s DanceMotion USA program.

Dancers will return at the top of October, just in time to head into the theatre for the company’s first Dayton show of the season, the world premiere of The Bench — Journey Into Love, created by Pittsburgh choreographer and DCDC choreographer-in-residence Kiesha Lalama. Tickets for this show, and the 50th anniversary season, are on sale now at ticketcenterstage.com.

For more information on the company, visit dcdc.org and connect with us on social media: Facebook/Instagram: @daytoncontemporarydancecompany & Twitter: @DCDCLive