Complexions Contemporary Ballet has brought its message of unity to stages in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Next up, the company’s Hancher debut in Iowa City on Nov. 1. Then it’s back to New York and on to Detroit before the holidays, followed by stops in Chicago and the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., among other major sites in the new year.
So how does Iowa City fit in with the big cities?
“Complexions is that company that really wants to go everywhere, wants to bring our brand, our message, who we are,” cofounder, co-artistic director and principal choreographer Dwight Rhoden, 61, told The Gazette by phone from his Los Angeles home. He divides his time between the West Coast and New York City, where the company has been based since he established it with fellow dancer Desmond Richardson in 1994.
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The Gazette - Thursday, October 24, 2024
Los Angeles Times - Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The old-fashioned song (or Lieder) recital — a singer in formal attire stoically standing next to a grand piano delivering art songs in foreign languages, unamplified in a concert hall far too large for intimacy — has obviously long needed refreshing. Indeed, it has all but disappeared from American stages.
But enter Julia Bullock and Davóne Tines. Each came through town recently with a highly personal and revealing recital program of intense intimacy and theatrical originality, boldly proclaiming a new generation’s profound rebirth of the medium.
The sky overhead City Park in Iowa City was clear, a dome of deep blue. Under that sky, more than 100 musicians arranged in concentric circles around conductor Steven Schick, their legs folded in lotus positions. Schick stood up and brought a sea shell to his mouth. The sound was almost imperceptible, only the friction of the air he blew as it entered the shell. Schick filled his lungs, tipped his head back and blew again.
My Impression Now - Sunday, September 29, 2024
On Friday afternoon, Patti Smith stood on stage at the Englert Theatre and shuffled through papers and books like an absent-minded creative writing teacher in a lecture hall, looking for the right poem to read as she took her glasses off and put them back on, apologizing for being a bit disorganized. She was an endearing presence, like a favorite aunt who always manages to bring the right gift even if it is wrapped haphazardly in yesterday's comics section.
On Saturday night, Smith was a commanding stage presence — fierce in one moment, disarmingly charming the next — as she led her powerful band through a career's worth of musical highlights.
The Gazette - Thursday, September 19, 2024
Unique entertainment is difficult to uncover in this age in which the masses seemed to have seen it all. And then comes along a show featuring pianist/composer Conrad Tao and dancer/choreographer Caleb Teicher.
The tandem’s “Counterpoint” event, aptly part of Hancher’s “Infinite Dream” festival, is slated for Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. Tao and Teicher will explore harmonic, rhythmic and theatrical counterpoints through a blend of sound and movement
“It is a unique show,” Teicher said. “I think audiences who usually go to music concerts are really engaged by the dancing. I think dance audiences are thrilled by the live music and the very different performative style of the show.”
My Impression Now - Monday, September 16, 2024
Leaving the second of two sets by the Julian Lage Trio on Sunday night, I was followed out by what I assumed were students in the University of Iowa jazz program. All were marveling at what they had just heard, one saying, "I need a drink, because I'll probably never play like that."
With all due respect, I'm going to suggest upgrading that qualifier right now. Practice all you want, son, but you are definitely not ever going to play like that. I have a Telecaster just like Lage, but even if I practiced from now until the end of my days and somehow was able to stand on that same stage with the exact same setup, it wouldn't happen.
All About Jazz - Sunday, September 15, 2024
The gorgeous new Hancher Auditorium, rebuilt in 2016 following severe flood damage to the original building in 2008, is situated on the campus of The University of Iowa. While the large Hadley Stage auditorium seats 1,800 and is home to Broadway shows, multimedia events, and orchestra concerts, the smaller Strauss Hall magically converts into Club Hancher, a hip jazz and comedy venue, over a dozen times a year. This year's season began with a bang with master guitarist Julian Lage.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a61817259/chaka-khan-icons-interview-2024/ - Wednesday, August 14, 2024
A little-known fact: The name Chaka was given to a young Yvette Marie Stevens at the age of 13 by a Yoruba priest, and translated it means woman of fire. The moniker seems to eerily predate one of the singer’s biggest hits, 1984’s “Through the Fire,” and perfectly encapsulates the life and voice of Chaka Khan, one of the world’s most enduring musical icons. Ferocious, wild, and free, she’s come back from the depths of addiction and lived in Germany, Switzerland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and London—all while recording 22 studio albums and winning 10 Grammys. Khan can lay claim to forays into theater and collaborations with Prince, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, and Quincy Jones. “I can do anything,” she says defiantly. “I could sing Chinese folk music if I got the pronunciation right.”
The New York Times - Thursday, August 1, 2024
A good musician’s relationship with the past is tricky. You want to move forward without entirely forsaking what you’ve already done. You don’t want it defining you when so much future defining lies ahead. It’s a dilemma Meshell Ndegeocello was thinking through at her dining room table in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, on a recent afternoon.
Ndegeocello happens to be much more than merely a good musician. She’s been playing professionally since the early 1990s and, at 55, is about to release her 14th album, a collection of songs that excites her. The past — the repertoire, the old stuff, the hits — can start to feel like “karaoke of myself,” she said, even if that’s never what it’s been like for us folks in the audience. Take her performances earlier this year at the Blue Note, the essential Greenwich Village jazz club.
Hancher and University of Iowa performing arts academic units announce 2024-2025 events