UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus, Saturday, November 4, 2023 at 7:30pm
The multinational trio of Tatiana Desardouin (Haitian), Lauriane Ogay (Swiss) and Mai Lê Hô (French-Vietnamese) brings societal issues to light through their street dance, hip-hop, house and clubbing styles. Passion Fruit’s mission is to promote these styles and their Black heritage, as well as their contributions to society. The company explores the human experience, addresses social issues and thrives to inspire young people to share their voices.
The threesome will perform the evening-length work, Dance Within Your Dance, in which the artists invite the audience to connect with the techniques, rhythms and essence of hip-hop and house dance. The work shows how, in these communities, artists develop, struggle, connect and create their own as well as collective signatures. In this program exploring the “groove,” the dancers use it as a road map to social justice through the physical expression of Black culture.
The performance on Saturday, November 4, 2023 will be followed by a talkback in which the artists invite the audience to have a conversation about race. Using “an introspective seed,” a tool designed by Desardouin to start contemplative anti-racist work, the three artists share their perspective as well as their motivation and process to do socially engaged art projects.
Advance tickets for Passion Fruit are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Tickets purchased on the day of the show are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Individual tickets can be purchased on the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac/tickets.
Support for the performance by Passion Fruit Dance Company is provided by the NYS DanceForce, a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Governor and Legislature. Additional funds provided by the University at Albany Foundation and University Auxiliary Services.
More info and tickets at https://www.theegg.org/events/event/passion-fruit-dance-company-ualbany-performing-arts-center/