Redfern Arts Center Explores Protest Movements Through Dance and Spoken Word

Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company will perform Nevabawarldapece, a stirring contemporary dance, spoken word and music collaboration that explores liberation movements on Wednesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College.

Tickets range from $25 to $15 depending on seating and $5 for KSC students. For tickets, contact the Redfern Box Office, which is open Monday to Friday, from noon to 6 p.m., call 603-358-2168 or order online at www.keene.edu/racbp. See a video clip and more information about Nevabawarldapece and the free activities surrounding this performance at www.keene.edu/racbp.

A New England premiere, Nevabawarldapece was created in collaboration with three internationally renowned artists: award-winning writer and performer Carl Hancock Rux; Afro-Celtic, folk-funk, hip-Appalachian vocalist Laura Love; and blues musician and composer Corey Harris. This evocative work explores critical moments of change in America’s liberation movements, insurrections, and revolts. From John Brown to today’s populist Occupy movement, Moses and his collaborators consider our nation’s efforts toward humanistic transformation from the 19th century to today.

Known for creating nuanced, athletic and powerful choreography while addressing charged cultural and social issues such as hate, faith, race and gender dynamics, Robert Moses explained that Nevabawarldapece delves into both the personal and cultural groundings of liberation movements. The dance explores the human struggle to be free, and the triggers that can lead a movement to grow or fail.

“The one feeling or concept to take away from this performance is to keep hope, no matter how difficult things get,” said Robert Moses in a recent interview with Redfern Arts Center. “All the conflicts and struggles may seem like the center of the universe, but in the end we need to respect each other …”

Founded in 1995, the Robert Moses’ Kin dance company is identified as one of the most important arts entities in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California because of its contributions to the field of live performance excellence, and its attention to provoking and meaningful themes. The company is known across the country for a distinctive style of dance that powerfully combines athletic technique, rhythmic complexity, fusion of different dance styles, and gestural detail.

There are many free activities surrounding the Nevabawarldapece performance at the Redfern Arts Center, all of which take place on the Keene State campus.

• Robert Moses will lead a Dance Masterclass at noon, Tuesday, March 24, in the Mabel Brown Room of the Young Student Center.
• A Keene is Reading discussion on technology and protest with Robert Moses on Tuesday, March 24, at a time and place to be determined.
• Robert Moses will lead a participatory and interdisciplinary workshop with an Introduction to American Studies course at noon, Wednesday, March 25.
• A post-show moderated discussion follows the performance in Redfern’s main lobby.

This performance of Nevabawardapece is sponsored by Central New England Attack-a-Crack and The Kingsbury Fund and was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College

The Arts Center is named in honor of Dr. Leo F. Redfern, Keene State College President from 1969 to 1979 for his vision, commitment, and eloquence on behalf of the arts that made funding and construction of the facility a reality. In 1981, KSC inaugurated this new performing arts center, with the goal of providing unforgettable artistic encounters for the campus and community. Now in its 33rd year, the Redfern Arts Center presents and fosters dynamic, multifaceted arts experiences through performances, residencies, and related programs that deepen the connection between the arts and audiences, both from the campus and the greater Monadnock region.