Performances work to integrate historical events with dance and music appropriate to their time, Overby said.
For example, she said, a piece called “Four Little Girls” remembers
the children killed in the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing,
exploring the tragedy in dance and poetry and ending with a gospel song.
Performers – including UD dance students as well as dancers from the
Christina Cultural Arts Center (CCAC) and the modern dance company
Pieces of a Dream, both in Wilmington – are now in preparation for an
early February weekend of intense rehearsal.
South African participants
will come to Delaware for the March performances.
In addition to the production itself, the CCAC and Overby are
conducting a related research project seeking to build audiences for the
arts in Wilmington and to improve access to the arts for high-poverty,
urban communities.
A group of city residents will be selected to discuss the themes involved in “Same Story” Different Countries and take photos and collect narratives from other community members related to oppression, resilience and liberation.
These participants and those they interviewed will be invited to
attend the final performance on March 13 at the Baby Grand, where their
art, photos and stories will be displayed in the lobby.
Performances are scheduled as follows, with more details to be available later:
- Feb. 26 – Dover High School, a morning lecture-demonstration and afternoon workshops.
- March 4 and 5 – 7:30 p.m., Mitchell Hall on the University’s Newark campus, annual concert for UD’s dance minor.
- March 11 – Schwartz Theatre, Dover, lecture-demonstrations at 9:30
a.m. and noon and an evening performance with other South African
artists.
- March 12 – 5:30 p.m., Mitchell Hall, as part of the Master Players
world music concert featuring 6ixwire, in collaboration with the "Same Story" Different Countries project.
- March 13 – 3 p.m., Baby Grand, Wilmington.
Participants in the project
The artistic directors of “Same Story” Different Countries are
Lynnette Overby and Colin Miller, the College of Arts and Sciences’
director for global arts and interim director for African studies.
Choreographers for the project are Overby and adjunct faculty member
A.T. Moffett from UD; Lela Aisha Jones of FlyGround in Philadelphia and
Ashley Sullivan Davis of Pieces of a Dream in Wilmington, both community
performance groups; Tumi Nkomo of South Africa; Lisa Wilson of the
University of Cape Town; Vincent Thomas of Towson University; and Teresa
Emmons of Dover High School.
The musical director is Ralph Russell of Pennsylvania, with composers
Xiang Gao, Trustees Distinguished Professor of Music at UD, and South
African drummer Kesivan Naidoo.
Original art has been created by South African artists Garth Erasmus,
who last spring was UD’s first international visiting artist in
residence.