Release: April 29, 2021
Press Contact:
Taelore Rhoden, PR & Marketing
taelore@spectrumdance.org
(206) 325-4161
SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER ANNOUNCES ITS 2021 RACE AND CLIMATE CHANGE FESTIVAL, JUNE 1 – JUNE 30, 2021
SEATTLE, WA, (April 29, 2021). For Immediate Release – Throughout Spectrum Dance Theater’s 2020/21 Season, Imagining Futures – Race, Social Justice, and the Climate Crisis, Donald Byrd and Company have explored the question, “How might life be lived in the near future after humans have adapted?”
The final production of the season, Spectrum’s Race & Climate Change Festival, is the culmination of this year-long exploration of speculations on the future, post-climate disaster, and how climate change will disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities in the United States.
This month-long virtual Festival will unfold across multiple dimensions at the intersection of Science, Race, Afro-Futurism, Imagination, Speculation, Sci-Fi, Social Sciences, and Philosophy.
The Festival experience invites visitors to explore and imagine future communities, called shucks, coping with the long-term impacts of climate change on the physical world and humanity. This glimpse into the future showcases the stories of surviving humans, how they have adapted to the new reality, and their interpretation of the impact and events of pre-climate disaster.
Upon entry into this portal to the future, visitors will navigate a digital 3D grid with physical space on the X & Y axis and time on the Z-axis. Within the 3D grid are a series of nodes that provide various experiences to visitors.
Highlights of the Festival include the world premiere of the dance film POOL/After, directed by Egan Kolb & Donald Byrd; audio and video recordings of stories from the shucks; and live panels & presentations, and interactive exercises.
All productions are choreographed and directed by Spectrum Dance Theater Artistic Director Donald Byrd. The Race & Climate Festival runs June 1 – 30, 2021, online.
POOL/After
Mode of Presentation: Online
Premiere Date: June 4, 2021
POOL/After, a world premiere production, is a two-part danced ritual that future humans (2090 and beyond) have developed due to the deification of Greta Thunberg and the appearance in the shucks of a mysterious Black woman called “she who sees”.
Note: This production was scheduled to premiere during the Race & Climate Change Festival in the Spring of 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the production was postponed (see our mini-documentary, “A Dance to Be that Never Was”).
Afro-Futurism, Black Women, and Climate Change
Mode of Presentation: Online
Premiere Date: June 10, 2021
A humanities program accompanies Spectrum’s dance presentations about the impacts of Climate Change. Curated by Beverly Aarons and Vivian Phillips, the program features readings from four local women writers on Afro-Futurism, and a moderated discussion between Dr. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks and Jourdan Keith on Black Women Leaders in the Climate Change Movement.
Youth Engaging with Climate Justice
Mode of Presentation: Online
Premiere Date: June 12, 2021
This virtual presentation centers around the group of youth that inspired Donald Byrd to explore the current and future impacts of the relationship between Race and Climate Change. Over the past calendar year, this group has cultivated a youth-centered space to learn, discuss, and organize around the intersectionality of Race, Climate Justice, and Art Practice. This presentation is a creative distillation and contemplation of that work.
The Race & Climate Festival TalkBack
Mode of Presentation: Online
Premiere Date: June 30, 2021
On the final day of the Festival, all Pass-holders are invited to a behind-the-scenes look into the making of The Race & Climate Change Festival with Donald Byrd and the creative and production teams.
TICKETS
Festival Passes include 30-day access (June 1 – 30, 2021) to the Race & Climate Change portal.
General Admission Festival Pass: $50
Students/Senior/Military Festival Pass: $40
Festival admission is included for 2020/21 Spectrum Dance Theater Season Pass holders and original “Pool” and “After” ticket holders from Spectrum’s 2019/20 Season.
Festival Passes will be available for purchase the week of May 3, 2021. Ticketing announcement to follow.
ABOUT SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER
Under Donald Byrd’s artistic leadership since 2002, Spectrum Dance Theater has become the foremost contemporary modern dance organization in the Pacific Northwest, gaining recognition nationally and abroad. For over thirty years, Spectrum Dance Theater has brought dance of the highest merit to a diverse community, working to make dance accessible to all through contemporary dance performances and high-quality dance training in various dance styles. Three components comprise the organization: the professional Company, the School and Outreach programs. With Donald Byrd’s visionary artistic leadership, the organization has embarked on an exciting transformation that has attracted world-class dancers, produced some of the most avant-garde works in contemporary dance, and generated local and national praise.
For more information, please contact:
Taelore Rhoden
PR & Marketing
Spectrum Dance Theater
taelore@spectrumdance.org
(206) 325-4161
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