Evidence: A Dance Company comes to IU Auditorium

The IU Auditorium will feature Evidence: A Dance Company for the first time Saturday.

The founder and artistic director of Evidence, Ronald K. Brown, fuses traditional African dance with contemporary movements. The company has been
expressing the message of the African Diaspora through eclectic dance since 1985.
 
Brown said he takes inspiration from urban and social movements, and combines that with moves from traditional Latin American, Caribbean and African dance, to tell a
story about the human condition.

Brown’s visual storytelling is renowned, and he has created works for numerous dance companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York.

Maria Talbert, the events manager at the IU Auditorium, said this diversity of dance is what makes the company’s performances so unique.

“Each dance has a distinct personality that comes through,” Talbert said. “It is really such a joy to watch the variety of dance and personality.”

Evidence will perform several pieces, including Brown’s most recent work called “On Earth Together” — a feature dance set to songs by Stevie Wonder. Among the songs are “All I Do,” “Blame it on the Sun” and “You and I.”

The piece is meant to express how love and compassion can bring people together. Brown focused on using social dance to create relationships among the performers.
“It is really just incredible,” Talbert said. “The mixture of the dance and music really makes for an interesting type of performance.”

Evidence will also have two workshops for the IU Contemporary Dance Program as well as the African American Dance Company.

Talbert said that having Evidence perform and offer classes at IU is a great opportunity because of Brown’s impact to the contemporary dance community today.

“Being able to offer this professional interaction to students really sets this program apart from others,” Talbert said.

Before Saturday’s performance, Elizabeth Shea, director of the IU Contemporary Dance Program, and Iris Rosa, director of the African American Dance Company, will give a pre-show talk at 6:45 p.m. in the Bridgewaters Lounge in the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center.

The talk will focus on work by Brown, and they will also discuss the many facets of modern dance.

“This (performance) is one to be proud of, and it is sure to be an exciting evening,” Talbert said.

—Hannah Crane