Heralded by The New York Times for its "good-time funkiness," David Dorfman Dancereturns to The Joyce Theater from January 24-29, 2012 with the NYC Premiere of Prophets of Funk, a work that reinvigorates "boomer memories to the sounds of Sly & the Family Stone." (Boston Phoenix). The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19thStreet), NYC. Tickets range in price from $10-$39. Ticket prices are subject to change. Tickets are available by phone at 212-242-0800 or Joyce.org.
Prophets of Funk celebrates the groundbreaking, visceral and politically innovative music of Sly and The Family Stone, one of the first major national bands integrated along race and gender lines. The piece for eight dancers explores the prophetic possibilities of music and dance and invites everyday people to find strength and joy in the muck and mess - the funk - of everyday life. The Joyce Theater performance will be the NYC premiere of the fully staged version of Prophets of Funk and a return of David Dorfman Dance to The Joyce for the first time since 2005.
The production was made possible by generous support by the National Endowment for the Arts - Art Works; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance project (NDP) with generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the MetLife Community Connections of the MetLife Foundation; the Harkness Foundation for Dance; the Jerome Robbins Foundation; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; The Edith Meiser Foundation; and Friends of David Dorfman Dance.
Choreographic material for Prophets of Funk was developed, in part, during residencies at the Tisch Dance Summer Residency Program at New York University and as Company-in-Residence at Connecticut College.
Conceived and directed by David Dorfman, choreography and text by David Dorfman Dance. Collaborators on Prophets of Funk include OBIE Award winning dramaturge Alex Timbers, creative consultant/scholar-in-residence David Kyuman Kim, media designer Jacob Pinholster, sound designer Samuel Crawford, lighting designer David Weiner in association with Dans Sheehan, and the music of Sly & The Family Stone.
Dancers: Kyle Abraham, Meghan Bowden, David Dorfman, Luke Gutgsell, Renuka Hines, Raja Kelly, Kendra Portier, Karl Rogers, and Whitney Lynn Tucker.
Prophets of Funk was previewed at Vanderbilt University in September 2010, premiered at Connecticut College in February 2011, and has since been performed across the country, including Contemporary Dance Theater, Inc. Cincinnati (OH), World Music/CRASHArts at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston (MA), Carpenter Performing Arts Center, California State University, Long Beach (CA), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket (MA), and Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, (ME).through the generous support of National Dance Project/NEFA.
Lincoln Center Out of Doors (New York, NY) commissioned David Dorfman Dance to perform live with The Family Stone for a unique iteration of this project: Prophets of Funk - Concert Edition.
Prophets of Funk is touring to East Carolina University's College of Fine Arts and Communication, Greenville (NC); the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (NC); Coker College, Hartsville (SC); the University of Memphis, Memphis (TN); and the American Dance Institute in Rockville (MD); North Carolina State University Center Stage at Raleigh (NC) during the 2011-2012 season.
