DANCE IN ALBANY SERIES COMMENCES WITH AN ESTABLISHED COMPANY FOLLOWED BY AN EMERGING ONE
(Albany, NY): The performing arts centers at The Egg and the University at Albany, which jointly present Dance in Albany, are proud to present the first two offerings in the series with residencies and performances in October and November by the long-established Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and the emerging Passion Fruit Dance Company. Dayton Contemporary will kick off the series at The Egg with a performance on Friday, October 20, 2023 at 8pm with Passion Fruit following just a couple of weeks later at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus with a performance on Saturday, November 4, 2023 at 7:30pm. Both companies will spend time in the community before their performance dates.
Passion Fruit
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.
In the days leading up to the performance, the company will conduct master classes at Union, Bard & Skidmore Colleges as well as Albany Academy. They will also present two performances for area students – one for elementary level and the other for high school. After the performance, they will remain at the UAlbany campus for five days of creative time developing a new work set to premiere next summer.
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.
Dance enthusiasts still have the opportunity to purchase a package with all performances in the Dance in Albany series for only $110. Patrons also have the option to choose any five or three performances at a savings of 25% and 10%, respectively. Packages can only be purchased through The Egg Box Office, in person at the Empire State Plaza location or by telephone at (518) 473-1845.