Elevator Project 2021-2022 Season Announced

The nonprofit AT&T Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce the 2021/2022 season of The Elevator Project, featuring the work of small and emerging arts groups performing on the Center’s campus in the Dallas Arts District. The Elevator Project’s new season will feature new productions from eight Dallas-based performing arts companies, as well as one local company rescheduled from the 2019-2020 season interrupted by the COVID-19 closures.

Selected artists:

• Sangeet Millennium and Art Nomadic
• Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble
• Bombshell Dance Project
• Janelle Gray
• Urban Arts Collective
• Justin Locklear
• Soul Rep Theatre Company
• Verb Kulture
• Indique Dance Company (Rescheduled from 2019-2020)

The art forms included this season are dance, theater, music, multi-genre and a spoken word performance.

“Dallas audiences are eager to see live, in-person performances again, especially new and interesting work they’ll remember,” said Debbie Storey, president and CEO. “Since 2014, the Elevator Project has been the platform for these exciting artists and their compelling programs, and our 7th season is one of the best yet!”

The 2021/2022 season of the Elevator Project will feature weekend and multi-performance engagements. Six productions this season will be staged in the Studio Theatre located on the 6th floor of the Wyly Theatre, two productions will be outdoors in Strauss Square and one will be in Hamon Hall in the Winspear Opera House. All shows are $29.50 general admission.

The Center presents the innovative Elevator Project with support from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Elevator Project is produced by David Denson.

This year’s Advisory Review Panel members were:

• Joy Bollinger, Bruce Wood Dance; Artistic Director
• Hillary Coyle, American Baroque Opera Company; Executive Director
• Arlington Jones, Pianist, Composer, Recording Artist
• Jim Nugent, Retired Director of Administration at Thompson Coe

The Advisory Review Panel recommendations were reviewed and approved by:

• Sam Santiago, City of Dallas Arts and Culture Advisory Commission, Chair
• Jennifer Scripps, City of Dallas Arts and Culture, Director
• Debbie Storey, AT&T Performing Arts Center, President and CEO

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

General admission tickets for each show are $29.50 each. Self-parking is $12.00 per show if purchased along with tickets. Tickets will be available online at www.attpac.org or by telephone at 214.880.0202.
Purchasers of four or more shows may also purchase a deeply discounted parking option for only $5 per show, if bought in the ticket purchase path.

Note: Downloadable photos are available in the Press Center.

THE ELEVATOR PROJECT 2021/2022 SEASON

Sangeet Millennium and Art Nomadic
Clear Light of the Void
Studio Theatre Level 6 – Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
Sangeet Millennium, in collaboration with Art Nomadic and other artists, offers a multidisciplinary, multi-media, multilinguistic performance installation exploring the notion of a journey through a metaphysical world. Travel through theatrical portals focused on three distinct but related mystical traditions and enacted through live performances of music, movement, and spoken word recitation. All enhanced by an original audio-recorded soundtrack, light installations, and video projections. Through the language of folktales and songs, experience a narrative of mystical progression through three interconnected metaphysical concepts of South Asia. Enjoy the experience of karmic cycles along the River of Life, described in “bhakti” (popular devotional) Hinduism; the Sufi (mystical Islamic) narrative of the human soul’s search for union with the divine; and “Bardo,” the experience of the human soul during the transition between death and rebirth, as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Performance schedule (3 performances):
• Thursday, October 28 – 8pm
• Friday, October 29 – 8pm
• Saturday, October 30 – 8pm

Soul Rep Theatre Company
Do No Harm
Studio Theatre Level 6 – Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
Do No Harm, Soul Rep co-founder Anyika McMillan-Herod’s newest play, was commissioned by theologian Dr. Evelyn Parker and the Association of Practical Theology. The play explores the story of three enslaved women – Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy – who were experimented on without anesthesia by Dr. J. Marion Sims, credited as “The Father of Modern Gynecology.”

This is a story not only of pain, but of sisterhood and survival.

Do No Harm was filmed in November 2020 in a slave cabin at Dallas Heritage Village and made its world premiere as a hybrid play/film for Soul Rep’s recent 25th Anniversary season. The company looks forward to sharing this powerful and insightful story as originally intended through the 2021/2022 Elevator Project – a traditional play for the stage and a live audience.

Performance schedule (7 performances):
• Thursday, March 10 – 8pm
• Friday, March 11 – 8pm
• Saturday, March 12 – 8pm
• Sunday, March 13 – 2pm
• Thursday, March 17 – 8pm
• Friday, March 18 – 8pm
• Saturday, March 19 – 8pm

Janelle Gray
RAGE
Studio Theatre Level 6 – Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
RAGE is a one-act play that explores the stories of Black US-ian women throughout the history of the United States. Ten women take their place on stage to share their stories of strength, resilience, perseverance and struggle across the history of the nation. From the 1842 Cherokee Revolt, to the Streetcar Boycotts of 1900-1906 and the continuing injustices of our traumatic present, RAGE honors the spirit and tenacity of our foremothers and is a dedication to no longer ignore the voices of Black women. This play encourages the audience to witness varying methods of rebellion as they truly are and displays moments of Black women’s greatest resistances against dehumanization and degradation.

Performance schedule (7 performances):
• Thursday, March 31 – 8pm
• Friday, April 1 – 8pm
• Saturday, April 2 – 8pm
• Sunday, April 3 – 2pm
• Thursday, April 7 – 8pm
• Friday, April 8 – 8pm
• Saturday, April 9 – 8pm

Indique Dance Company
Maya: The Illusion We Live
Studio Theatre Level 6 – Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
Each person sees the world in a different way. When you look into a kaleidoscope, you see a picture. When you turn the cylinder ever so slightly, you get a completely different view. Similarly, one small shift in perspective can alter our picture of the world and in some instances change our life, or the lives of others. It is human nature to allow our personal biases and assumptions to become a pair of tinted glasses that color everything we see. What happens when we remove the filters, the “Maya,” that clouds our vision? Does this expand our opportunities to step out of our comfort zones and build understanding with each other?

Indique Dance Company, will use pure dance and storytelling to explore the different ways in which perspective shapes our relationships. Join us on this journey as we look beyond the illusion.

Performance schedule (3 performances):
• Thursday, April 14 – 8pm
• Friday, April 15 – 8pm
• Saturday, April 16 – 8pm

Urban Arts Collective
Love You Madly: Celebrating the Music of Duke Ellington
Strauss Square

Synopsis:
Love You Madly: Celebrating the Music of Duke Ellington transports you to 1920’s New York City at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Told through music, dance and spoken word, Love You Madly highlights the glitz and glamour of the time with a big band orchestra as the backdrop. Not only will it be a celebration of Duke Ellington, but also a celebration of the Dallas arts community. The entire band comprised of Dallas musicians under the direction of Dallas’ premiere jazz band director, Dean Hilland and the show is choreographed by JuNene K. At the directorial helm of Love You Madly, is Obie award winner Ed Smith.

Performance schedule (3 performances):
• Thursday, June 2 – 8pm
• Friday, June 3 – 8pm
• Saturday, June 4 – 8pm

Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble
Griots: Celebrating a Compilation of Dallas’ Cultural Storytellers of the African Diaspora
Strauss Square

Synopsis:
“Griot” is a French word that originated in the 13th century from the Mande empire of Mali, West Africa and, for centuries, they have told and retold the history of the empire, keeping their stories and traditions alive. Transport your spirit in celebration as we pay homage to an array of Dallas’ key artistic and cultural storytellers such as Erykah Badu, Vicki Meek, Michelle Gibson, Baba Hassan, the late Afiah Bey, Bandon Koro’s own, Tony Browne and Nana Kweku plus many, many more! Through sensory immersion in traditional West African drum, dance, cultural ceremonies, and a spectrum of inventive artistic expressions, we will honor, highlight and navigate the pathways of cultural lineage to keep the history of the African Diaspora in the DFW Metroplex everlasting.

Performance schedule (2 performances):
• Friday, June 17 – 8pm
• Saturday, June 18 – 8pm

Verb Kulture
Rhythm and Rhapsody
Hamon Hall – Winspear Opera House

Synopsis:
Rhythm and Rhapsody is an artistic fusion of storytelling and poetic expression that brings poetry, rhythm and dance together to share stories that reflect social challenges in the African American community. You will be drawn into a whirlwind of emotions by the poets and dancers as they take you on a journey reflecting past and present issues in America. The stories presented are inspired by news headlines, Dallas community interviews and personal experiences. Rhythm is the heartbeat of the project reminding us of how rhythm historically has played a major role in using music to tell stories. This tradition, passed down culturally from African storytelling by the oral historians to the “rhythm and blues” of Black America, also reminds us of how resilient we are and how we always manage to remain unbreakable. Rhythm and Rhapsody is sure to bring high-energy performances. Every story has rhythm, and every rhythm tells a story. This production will show what happens when the two become one!

Performance schedule (3 performances):
• Thursday, July 14 – 8pm
• Friday, July 15 – 8pm
• Saturday, July 16 – 8pm

Justin Locklear
Enter Several Strange Shapes, Bringing in a Banquet
Studio Theatre Level 6 – Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
Enter Several Strange Shapes, Bringing in a Banquet, a deconstruction of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, is a genre-bending work playing with elements of dance, theatre, performance art and multi-media. Utilizing none of the characters of the original work of Shakespeare, the play instead builds a world from the themes and metaphors of The Tempest, creating a new myth altogether. Enter Several Strange Shapes, Bringing in a Banquet exists across platforms – in-person performance and using a digital interface that pushes the level of interaction into the audience’s own intimate imagination. Through an extensive movement score, live and pre-recorded dialogue and soundscapes, the show invites audiences to celebrate their own imaginations along with a return to public space, while also creating a surreal environment for escape. Jump into a stark and decadent world that culminates in moments of spectacular crisis!

Performance schedule (7 performances):
• Thursday, August 4 – 8pm
• Friday, August 5 – 8pm
• Saturday, August 6 – 8pm
• Sunday, August 7 – 2pm
• Thursday, August 11 – 8pm
• Friday, August 12 – 8pm
• Saturday, August 13 – 8pm

Bombshell Dance Project
In the Conservatory with the Knife
Studio Theatre Level 6 -Wyly Theatre

Synopsis:
In the Conservatory with the Knife is an immersive dance experience, loosely inspired by the game of Clue. With a unique, free-form nature, audiences will choose for themselves how and when to move throughout the theatre and experience the show, guaranteeing each person will experience the show in a different way. Beginning with a murder and ending with the reveal of the murderer, audiences become the detectives, picking up on clues through the character-driven scenes, and making their own conclusions as to whom the murderer may be before the final reveal.

Performance schedule (3 performances):
• Thursday, August 26 – 8pm
• Friday, August 27 – 8pm
• Saturday, August 28 – 8pm