THE FOUR DIRECTIONS:
A WINTER SOLSTICE EVENT
Direction, video design/projection, set design,
and script by Billbob Brown;
choreography by Billbob Brown and others,
including Nanette Robinson,
director of Zuzi! Dance Theater.
Live musical performances by Pablo Peregrina with Sally Withers.
Sponsored by Zuzi! Dance Theater,
at the Historic Y in downtown Tucson
Thousands of years ago, out of Africa, we spread to the four directions across the globe. We migrated out of necessity, for work, for food or shelter, someitmes by free will, sometimes by the force of slavery, in an ever-shifting landscape on this earth that we call home.
Now, as we continue to come from the four directions, and as our paths cross, do we build walls, or bridges? The Four Directions explores our interactions with references to light from cultures around the world; coalescing in the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF THE FOUR DIRECTIONS PERFORMANCE (FIRST HALF)!
(THIS ONLINE VERSION ONLY INCLUDES SECTIONS CHOREOGRAPHED BY BILLBOB BROWN; musical interludes are excluded)
CONCERT ORDER:
OPENING:
The Shortest Day, the Longest Journey
Direction: Billbob Brown
Narration: Jasmine Roth
THE FOUR ELEMENTS:
Where We Have Come From
Choreography: Billbob Brown
Narration: Jasmine Roth
Dancers: Sabrina Geoffrion, Bethanne
Griffin, Karenne Koo, Sherry Mulholland
FROM THE EAST:
Air
Choreography: Nanette Robinson
and Aja Squires
Performers: Youth Aerial Dancers
FROM THE SOUTH: FIRE
With My Orange/Red Fires
Choreography: Billbob Brown
Dancers: Billbob Brown and Jasmine Roth
FROM THE NORTH: EARTH
I Am the Earth
Choreography: Nanette Robinson and Karenne Koo
Performers: Members of the Zuzi! community and Arts for All.
CIVIL WAR:
US vs US
Choreography and performance: Billbob Brown
FROM THE WEST: WATER
Choreography by Nanette Robinson
Dancers: Sabrina Geoffrion,
Bethanne Griffin, Karenne Koo,
Sherry Mulholland, Jasmine Roth,
Raine Ugstad
FORGIVENESS:
Ho'Oponopono
Choreography by Billbob Brown
Performers: Sabrina Geoffrion, Bethanne Griffin, Karenne Koo, Sherry Mulholland
This section is an ongoing and still-developing video project, using messages of forgiveness sent from around the world in a multitude of languages via cell phone. These videos are are seen on stage on cell phones and projected on to the sets, while the dancers continue their conversations across the world.
FINALE: WINTER SOLSTICE:
The Longest Night, the Shortest Journey
Choreography by Billbob Brown
Performance with full cast.
We celebrate the return of light through the festivals of Light: Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Yuletide, Christmas, and other Solstice traditions, bringing it all back to Africa, with strong hints of African dance!
Copyright 2016 Billbob Brown