Presenter Resources
SPEAKING IN THE SAME TONGUE
Choreographed and directed by Dianne McIntyre
DESCRIPTION
Speaking in the Same Tongue is an 80-minute movement, sound and language-based work choreographed and directed by Dianne McIntyre which includes poetry of Ntozake Shange, a composition by Olu Dara and original music by Diedre Murray.
The work explores dance and music “speaking” to each other: Africans bound together with no common “tongue”; the sound of rage, endearment, suspicion; speech impeding victory; nature reacting to clashes of race; sacred traditions in harmony; silent speech. The company of dancers and musicians brings theatrical expression to every move, every note, every word.
Local performers are incorporated into the production at each tour site.
WORK IN PROGRESS VIDEO
Baryshnikov Art Center Residency, 2016
SPEAKING IN THE SAME TONGUE is a recipient of a 2020 National Dance Project Award.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
UPCOMING RESIDENCY AND DEVELOPMENT
Dance Theatre Harlem (New York, NY)
The Apollo Theatre (New York, NY)
UPCOMING TOURING
Karamu House (Cleveland, OH)
The Apollo Theatre (New York, NY)
Dance Place (Washington, D.C.)
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York City
Dance Place, Washington, D.C.
ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Ms. McIntyre is committed to strong engagement with the local community whenever her work is being presented. This is particularly important for this piece, as the tour of Speaking In The Same Tongue will coincide with the celebration of Ms. McIntyre’s 50th year of professional choreographic accomplishment!
Performance Workshops & Master Classes — Opportunities for local performers and students to participant in technical instruction on the various genres and artist crafts that Speaking In The Same Tongue draws its collaboration from
Dance workshops (modern dance, West African dance, dance improvisation)
Music / Jazz workshops
Poetry Workshops
Community / Public Engagement — Public discourse events for the local community to attend; celebrating and amplifying contributions to, and the work around, Speaking In The Same Tongue
Talkbacks with Dianne McIntyre and the Artists
African American History in Dance
Lectures with community groups or schools
Invited rehearsals
Legacy Celebrations of Dianne McIntyre’s work and 50-year career
THE MUSIC
The original music created and composed for Speaking In The Same Tongue is grounded in the many genres of music from the African diaspora, including elements informed by jazz and the history and legacy of call and response.
Music serves as another character in the performance, and collaborates with the artists and genres seen on stage to deepen the complex narrative of African American resilience and innovation.
The stylings of Deidre Murray and Olu Dara expand beyond traditional forms and experiment upon texture to provide not just a soundscape, but a musical narrative that develops throughout the piece. This allows for moments of “spontaneous composition”, as Ms. McIntyre describes, and the realization of dance as music moving.
TECHNICAL RIDER
SCHEDULE
Per Presenter
Pre Hang
2 Days Before 1st Performance
Hang Scenery and Lay Deck
Focus Lights
Sound Check
Tech
1 Day Before 1st Performance
Tech / Dress Rehearsal
Day of 1st Performance
Work Notes
Performance
PERSONNEL
# Personnel
- Four (4) dancers
- Four (4) musicians
- One (1) Stage Manager
- One (1) Production Supervisor
- One (1) Choreographer
- One (1) Associate
Total Travel Team: 12
- Three to six (3-6) additional performers are sourced locally at each engagement
- Ms. McIntyre will be on site and in residence for the duration of each engagement
APPROVED PHOTOS
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KEY ARTISTS
Dianne McIntyre
Dianne McIntyre, a 2020 USA Fellow and 2016 Doris Duke Artist, choreographs for concert, theatre, and film. From 1972-1988 McIntyre’s company, Sounds in Motion, toured internationally while at her Harlem studio she taught classes and presented other artists. The studio was a mecca for collaborating artists. McIntyre’s work has been seen with Sounds in Motion and her own subsequent ensembles, including at the Joyce, Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Walker, Wexner Center, Lincoln Center, ADF, and New York Live Arts.
Commissions include Dance Theatre of Harlem, Jacob's Pillow, ADF, Dallas Black Dance, Dancing Wheels, Philadanco, GroundWorks, Cleo Parker Robinson, Def Dance Jam, Limon, and multiple academic institutions. She has collaborated with artistic icons Cecil Taylor, Butch Morris, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Max Roach, Regina Taylor, Lester Bowie, Olu Dara and Ntozake Shange and directors Jonathan Demme, Douglas Turner Ward, Irene Lewis, Barlett Sher, Marion McClinton, Oz Scott, Des McAnuff.
For film and television she choreographed "Beloved"; "Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper"; "for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf" and "Miss Evers’ Boys" for which she received an Emmy nomination. She also creates dance-driven dramas from her interviews with people on major social/life issues for theatre arenas. These include "Open the Door, Virginia!" (civil rights protest/actions), "I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change" (her father's stories); "Daughter of a Buffalo Soldier" (early dance pioneer). Signature dance works include: "Take-Off from a Forced Landing", "Deep South Suite", "Life's Force", "Love Poems to God", "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
McIntyre’s many other awards, include a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Bessies, ADF Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching, Helen Hayes Theatre Award, two Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from SUNY Purchase and Cleveland State University and two AUDELCO awards. Currently she is the co-director of the Hicks Choreography Fellows Program at Jacob’s Pillow and she is the choreographer for Lincoln Center Theater's operatic adaptation of Lynn Nottage’s "Intimate Apparel". Mentors: Gus Solomons Jr, Elaine Gibbs Redmond, Vera Blaine.