Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, which was founded in 1968 by

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

native, Jeraldyne Blunden, is the oldest

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

company in Ohio, and one of the largest companies of its kind between Chicago and New York City.

History

The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1968 by Jeraldyne Blunden as a performance outlet for students at Jeraldyne's School of Dance. Blunden picked students from her school for the dance company, acquiring twelve female dancers by 1972. One of these original dancers was Blunden's daughter, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, who would later become artistic director of the company. In 1973, the company performed Blunden's ballet, ''Flite,'' earning the honor of being the first African-American group to gain membership to the Northeast Regional Ballet Association Festival. The company soon produced its first large scale performance in 1976, also marking the first time the dancers were paid for a performance. They performed ''Black Snow'', a collaboration with acclaimed composer Roy Meriwether at Dayton's Memorial Hall in front of a sold-out audience. Blunden shaped the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a repertory company through her continuous invitations for renowned guest artists to create pieces for her dancers. Young, budding choreographers, including

Ulysses Dove Ulysses Dove (January 17, 1947 in Columbia, South Carolina – June 11, 1996 in Manhattan) was a choreographer. Dove began his dance training at Boggs Academy in Georgia. Dove gave up his premedical studies at Howard University to transfer to ...

, contributed to the growing company's repertory. DCDC's outstanding repertoire includes works by world class master choreographers such as

Eleo Pomare Eleo Pomare (20 October 1937 – 8 August 2008) was a Colombian-American modern dance choreographer. Known for his politically-charged productions depicting the Black experience, his work had a major influence on contemporary dance, especially B ...

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center ...

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

Donald McKayle Donald McKayle (July 6, 1930 – April 6, 2018) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and '60s that focus on expressing the human con ...

Rennie Harris Lorenzo Harris (born January 28, 1964) is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and professor of hip-hop dance. Harris formed the first and longest running hip-hop dance touring company, Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992. In 2007, he conceiv ...

, and

Talley Beatty Talley Beatty (22 December 1918 – 29 April 1995) was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles dan ...

. Today, DCDC continues to acquire new works by contemporary choreographers including

Bebe Miller Bebe Miller (born 1950) is an American choreographer, dancer, and director. Career Miller was born in 1950 in Brooklyn, New York. Following her graduation from Ohio State University with a degree in dance, Miller danced in the troupe of Nina Wie ...

, Warren Spears,

Dianne McIntyre Dianne McIntyre (born July 18, 1946) is an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her notable works include ''Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Dance Adventure in Southern Blues (A Choreodrama)'', an adaptation of Zora Neal Hurston's novel ''T ...

, Shapiro and Smith, and Ronald K. Brown. To further expand its repertoire, DCDC commissioned works inviting Bill T. Jones,

Garth Fagan Gawain Garth Fagan, CD (born 3 May 1940) is a Jamaican modern dance choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, a modern dance company based in Rochester, New York. Biography Early years Fagan was born in K ...

Dwight Rhoden Dwight Rhoden is an American choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréa ...

and

Doug Varone Doug Varone is an American choreographer and director. He works in dance, theater, opera, film and fashion. He is an educator and advocate for dance. His company, Doug Varone and Dancers, has been performing for over three decades. Education Var ...

to participate in DCDC's What Dreams We have and How They Fly. This four-piece program premiered in 2003 to celebrate Dayton's native sons, the Wright Brothers’ first flight 100 years ago and will artistically explore what the invention of flight means to our contemporary world. 2013-14, as part of DCDC's 45th Anniversary, 10 new works were commissioned for DCDC by choreographers' Kiesha Lalama, Ronen Koresh,

Ray Mercer Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. Best known for his boxing career, Mercer won a heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer O ...

, Donald Byrd, Alvin Rangel, Rodney A. Brown and more. The company's apprenticeship dance corps, DCDC2, was established as the pre-professional wing of the rising touring company under the leadership of Kevin Ward. In 1990, Blunden fell ill and Kevin Ward became the new artistic director of the company. Blunden's daughter, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, became the new director of DCDC2. Since, former DCDC dancer Shonna Hickman-Matlock has become director of DCDC2. Kevin Ward retired on July 1, 2007, and Debbie Blunden-Diggs became the company's new artistic director.

National recognition

* 2018: Participant in DanceMotion USA's seventh season, touring Kazakhstan and Russia as cultural ambassadors, May 2018 * 2016: Dayton City Commissioners cited Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a true Gem City gem as they declared Friday, Nov. 4, DCDC Day * 2016: The 2016 Bessie for Outstanding Revival was presented to Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder by Donald McKayle, performed by Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and produced by Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at the David H. Koch Theater, New York (The New York Dance and Performance Awards) * 2012: The documentary ''Sparkle,'' highlighting the career of Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, a dancer with the company for the past 40 years, was selected to screen at

Silverdocs The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) documentary film festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Starte ...

, the largest and most prestigious documentary film festival in the country. It also appeared nationally on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

as part of a larger broadcast show entitled LIFECASTERS. * 2012: The Company first toured to China * 2011: The Company first toured to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

* 2007: The company was featured in the

''Dance in America: Dancing in the Light'' documentary. * 2004: The company was selected as a question for the trivia game show,

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...

, as a result of the success of The Flight Project. * 2001: The company was prominently featured in the

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

'' documentary, ''Free to Dance'', produced by the

American Dance Festival The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...

. * 1997: The company was the first dance company selected for the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

’s Working Capital Fund for Minority Cultural Institutions, a program designed to strengthen leading, mid-size, cultural organizations at a critical juncture in their development. *1988: The company was one of four dance companies chosen by the

to participate in ADF’s Black Tradition in American Modern Dance project, which involved the reconstruction of classic dance works by African-American choreographers. * 1994: Jeraldyne Blunden received numerous awards and commendations including the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship Award * 1973: The company became the first African-American group to gain membership to the Northeast Regional Ballet Association Festival. The company has toured internationally to other countries including

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Projects and collaborations

DanceMotion USA (2018)

DCDC is one of three dance companies across the United States tapped to tour internationally through the seventh season of ''DanceMotion USA'', a dynamic cultural diplomacy program run through the U.S. Department of State and Brooklyn Academy of Music.

China (2012)

The company performed in China to celebrate the grand opening of the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

's China Institute in Suzhou Industrial Park.

Chile (2011)

The company performed in

alongside

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a contemporary dance company based in Chicago. Hubbard Street performs in downtown Chicago at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Hubb ...

Cirque Eloize A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

, and Chile's Jose Luis Vidal at the Las Condes Municipal Theatre.

In the Spirit of… (2009)

The company reprised its most popular dance offering ever, ''In the Spirit of...'', held at the Dayton Masonic Temple. ''In the Spirit of...'' paid tribute to African-American liturgical worship, complete with a 100-voice choir assembled from local churches, instrumentalists, dancers from both the company and DCDC2, and nationally renowned jazz and blues saxophonist

Kirk Whalum Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk' ...

and equally renowned gospel and R&B singer

Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance w ...

Colôr- ógrăphy, n. the dances of Jacob Lawrence (2007)

The company commissioned new dance works inspired by the powerful paintings of Jacob Lawrence from choreographers Donald Byrd,

, Kevin Ward, and Reggie Wilson. This became the company's second largest touring project.

Lyric Fire (2006)

The company commissioned

to choreograph a piece celebrating the life and poetry of

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

The Clearing in the Woods

The company united choreographer Ronald K. Brown with noted jazz pianist

Mulgrew Miller Mulgrew Miller (August 13, 1955 – May 29, 2013) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. As a child he played in churches and was influenced on piano by Ramsey Lewis and then Oscar Peterson. Aspects of their styles remained i ...

in an innovative jazz/dance collaboration.

The Flight Project (2003)

In celebration of Dayton's native Wright Brothers’ 100th Anniversary of flight, the company invited Bill T. Jones,

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (born December 21, 1950) is an American dancer, teacher and choreographer of modern dance. She is the founder of the Urban Bush Women dance company. Biography One of six children, she was born Willa Jo Zollar in Kansas City ...

, and

to create new works that artistically explore what the invention of flight means to our contemporary world. This five-piece program was the first and largest touring project the company has had in its history.

Children of the Passage (1999)

DCDC premiered Children of the Passage by

and Ronald K. Brown. This work was commissioned by the

National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center is a museum located in Wilberforce, Ohio, whose mission is to chronicle through its collections and programs the rich and varied experiences of African Americans from their African origins to ...

as part of a major project,

Educational outreach

The company offers lecture demonstrations, workshops, school field trips, and residency programs adaptable for all ages. These educational offerings are available both in Dayton and while the company is on tour. The company aims to use dance as an experiential tool to facilitate learning in all subjects, supporting student success as determined by the state of Ohio Academic Content Standards.

References

External links

"Company History - Dayton Contemporary Dance Company"
{{authority control Organizations based in Dayton, Ohio Modern dance companies Culture of Dayton, Ohio Dance companies in the United States Contemporary dance companies 1968 establishments in Ohio Dance in Ohio