Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue
Pictured from left: Christopher Page-Sanders, Shaquelle Charles, and Demetia Hopkins
Photo: Paula Lobo @paulalobo
Conceived and choreographed by Dianne McIntyre
Original Music by Diedre Murray
Featuring poetry by Ntozake Shange
Music Direction by Gerald Brazel
Costume Design by Devario Simmons
Lighting Design by Alan C. Edwards
Scenic Design by Riw Rakkulchon
Dianne McIntyre Group: The Company Artists;
Shaquelle Charles, Da’Von Doane, Demetia Hopkins, Kyle H. Martin, Christopher Page-Sanders, Brianna Rhodes, Kamryn Vaulx
Gerald Brazel – trumpet, Hilliard Greene – bass, Cleave Guyton Jr. – woodwinds, Reggie Nicholson – drums
Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue
Pictured from left: Demetia Hopkins, Kyle H. Martin, Da’Von Doane, Brianna Rhodes, Kamryn Vaulx. In the background: Reggie Nicholson (drums) Hilliard Greene (bass), Gerald Brazel (trumpet), Cleave Guyton Jr. (Saxophone) Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Project Description
IN THE SAME TONGUE is a vibrant full-length movement, sound, and language based-work. Dance legend and choreographer, Dianne McIntyre, unites a vigorous company of dancers and musicians to explore how dance and music “speak” to each other.
With original music by celebrated composer Diedre Murray, it reveals how language creates worlds of beauty, alienation, harmony, tension, or peace. Dynamic vignettes ignite the stage, including McIntyre’s autobiographical stories with “the music”—such as the musical influence of the Black Arts Movement—and feature the poetry of Obie-winning playwright Ntozake Shange.
Dianne McIntyre Group In the Same Tongue
Foreground: Brianna Rhodes.
Background: Demetia Hopkins
Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue
From left in the front row: Demetia Hopkins, Da’Von Doane, Kyle H. Martin. From left in back row: Reggie Nicholson, Kamryn Vaulx, Cleave Guyton Jr., Brianna Rhodes, Gerald Brazel
Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Dianne McIntyre Group In the Same Tongue
Foreground: Kamryn Vaulx, Da’Von Doane, Kyle H. Martin
Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
About the artist: Dianne McIntyre
Photo by McKinley Wiley
Dianne McIntyre is a 2022 Dance Magazine Award Honoree and recipient of a 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund. Known for her concert dance work with celebrated artists on the cutting edge of music primarily in the Black spectrum, she also choreographs for theatre, film and opera. Her work appears in the 2022 opera Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon for Lincoln Center Theater and broadcast on PBS. She has choreographed for numerous companies including Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as well as her own companies - most notably, Sounds in Motion. The company/school was a vital institution in Harlem where artists met, collaborated and were nurtured at the studio. The Sounds in Motion company toured internationally. McIntyre's screen credits include Beloved (from Toni Morrison's novel) and Miss Evers' Boys garnering her an Emmy nomination. Other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Doris Duke Artist Award, a Dance/USA Honor Award, a United States Artists Doris Duke Fellowship, National Black Theatre Teer Pioneer Award, Def Dance Jam Community Butterfly Award, American Dance Festival Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching, Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award/College of Arts and Sciences the Ohio State University, two Audelcos, three Bessies and two Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees (from SUNY Purchase and Cleveland State University). Dianne McIntyre also enjoys developing dance-driven dramas from her interviews about real life stories. Two of these are I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change (her father's stories) and Open the Door, Virginia! (1950s civil rights stories). McIntyre’s mentors include Elaine Gibbs Redmond, Gus Solomons jr, Louise Roberts, Vera Blaine, Helen Alkire and Richard Davis. With Risa Steinberg, Dianne McIntyre is the co-director of the Jacob's Pillow Hicks Choreography Fellows Program.
PRESS: IN THE SAME TONGUE In The News
“Dianne McIntyre is the queen of dance collaborations and improvisations” - Sheila Regan (STAR TRIBUNE)
“There is not a single descriptor that is Dianne McIntyre...Watching her dance and create these stories are lessons in enlightenment.” - Charmaine Warren (DANCE MAGAZINE)
“With a career spanning five decades, Dianne McIntyre is one of the most important artists in the American dance scene.” - Veta Goler (WALKER REVIEW)
Dianne McIntyre’s In the Same Tongue Residency at MANCC
Photo by Chris Cameron
