News

The shuffling of shoes down the dimly lit aisles of an auditorium molds feelings of excitement and perhaps a bit of claustrophobia all into four words: It’s almost show time. What wonders from the corners of the world will be on display for the audience today? Hancher has rolled up its sleeves, and from the East, presents the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan, a dance company from across the Pacific that also has ties to the University of Iowa. “The company’s founder, Lin Hwai-min, came to the university to take part in the International Writing Program and then enrolled in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop,” said Rob Cline, the Hancher director of marketing communications. “While he was on campus, he took a dance class, and it changed his life. He graduated from the university in 1971 and founded Cloud Gate in 1973. The work the company will dance here, Formosa, is apparently his last performance-length piece of choreography. He plans to retire from Cloud Gate in 2019.”

A trumpeter, santur player, vocalist and composer, Amir ElSaffar is steeped in classical and jazz traditions while also bringing the microtones and ornaments of Arabic music into play. He also is a practitioner of the endangered Iraqi maqam music, which influences both his playing and composing. His band, Rivers of Sound, features 17 musicians who blend Eastern and Western music, using fluid rhythm and pitches to create a transcultural soundscape. Tonight’s concert is part of Hancher’s Embracing Complexity initiative, designed to build understanding of contemporary Islamic cultures and Muslim identity

Camille A. Brown has dedicated her career to creating choreography and dance exploring culture, social justice, and African-American narratives. She will talk about her creative process, thoughts, and experience today at 7:30 p.m. in Hancher’s Strauss Hall. The discussion, originally part of the Creative Matters Series, is free and open to the public. Brown is the lead choreographer of her company, Camille A. Brown and Dancers. She is also a 2016 Guggenheim fellow, Broadway choreographer, and community-based dance instructor.

Ink uses a blend of everyday movements and traditional African dance to create a powerful display of African-American empowerment. Camille A. Brown, the creator of ink, roams around the stage with a mix of pedestrian-like motions and displays of modern-dance mastery. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Hancher will welcome Brown and her dance company as they perform Ink, the third and final installment of a dance series focused on African-American identity; the first two being Mr. TOL E. RAncE, which was performed in 2012, and BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, débuted in 2015.