Northrop is closed Mon, Sep 22 until 5:30 pm
East entrance doors will open at 5:30 pm to event attendees with tickets and matching IDs.
Immerse yourself in the fluid eloquence and highly anticipated Northrop onstage debut of Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE. For this 40th anniversary celebration honoring Ronald K. Brown, one of our generation’s most highly sought-after choreographers, EVIDENCE will be joined by esteemed local trailblazer TU Dance. This exceptional program will showcase the transformative works of Brown, whose choreography has been hailed as “richly expressive and irresistibly kinetic” (The New York Times).
The evening features Where the Light Shines Through, a soul-stirring piece commissioned by TU Dance in 2017 that tells a story of solidarity and perseverance, set to traditional music recorded by Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba and other world music artists. Next on the program is Percussion Bitter Sweet: Tender Warriors, a 2024 commission honoring drummer, composer, and activist Max Roach on the occasion of his centennial birthday. The program concludes with Brown’s seminal masterwork Grace (1999), his first commission for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a beloved classic showcasing Brown at the height of his artistic powers.
This unforgettable evening brings to the stage two powerhouse companies, dancing in three masterful works, woven together by the rhythms, traditions, and cultural narratives of the African diaspora.
Top image: Gregory Hamiliton in Percussion Bitter Sweet Tender Warriors. Photo © Steven Pisano.
Articles & More
EVIDENCE
“This is a fitting tribute and a hell of a show.”—The New York Times
“ … A vocabulary, drawn from many parts of the African diaspora, that Brown has developed into a personal language that’s flexible, richly expressive, and irresistibly kinetic … ”—The New York Times
“It is in such a moment, Brown shows his ability to transcend religious beliefs to achieve something more universally and poetically spiritual.”—The New York Times
TU Dance
“Unrelentingly exciting, a celebration of body, heart, mind and soul that successfully blended multiple artistic visions.”—Pioneer Press
“TU Dance tackles important questions—about social justice, history, and human resiliency—with verve.”—Minnesota Monthly
“It’s gasp-inducing virtuosity—complex, poetic, and deeply human. These are people dancing, not just dancers performing.”—Pioneer Press
To Help You Decide
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Know Before You Go
Event Information
- Seating: Ticket Required
- Performance Begins: 7:30 pm
- Tickets: Check the email you provided when you placed your order to locate your digital ticket. Be sure to check your spam or junk mail folders if you do not see them.
- Detailed Event Information: Check back for more information closer to the date.
If you need assistance, please call 612-624-2345, email umntix@umn.edu.
Important Links–Planning Your Visit
Learn More - Explore These Themes
The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop's mission towards intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested topics:
- Education: Music, Dance, Lifelong Learning, Community
- Dance: African, Contemporary, Narrative
- Music: Jazz, Percussion, Drumset, Afrobeat
- Improvisation
- African American & African Studies
- American Studies
- U.S. History: Civil Rights Movement
- Therapy: Music, Integrative
- Well-being & Resilience
Dive deeper with these resources that provide additional information about the performers, the history of the artform, and the artistic process.
Links:
"Dance of the African Diaspora: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE"—Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive
"Grace, Ronald K. Brown’s Celestial Groove, Turns 25 at Ailey"—The New York Times
“Ditching Ballet Class to Find a Mentor and a New Way to Move”—The New York Times
Video: "Inside the Pillow Lab: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE"
"TU Dance Celebrates 20 Years!"—TU Dance blog
Start a conversation about the performance or encourage reflection, using these questions as inspiration.
Ronald K. Brown started dancing at age 6, inspired by Alvin Ailey, and founded his own dance company at 19—named after the first piece he ever choreographed: EVIDENCE. He rose to global acclaim soon after and developed a decades-long career as a teacher, choreographer, dancer, and collaborator with innovative dancers, companies, and artists worldwide.
- Consider the legacy of Ronald K. Brown as a pioneering African American dance maker, community activist, educator and storyteller. In what ways might Brown’s practice have been shaped by the environment and heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, like Alvin Ailey?
- What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of reaching career success at an early age?
For this program, EVIDENCE builds on a long-standing collaboration with TU Dance, a celebrated Twin Cities dance company marking its 20th anniversary in 2025. Ronald K. Brown and TU Dance’s Executive Director Toni Pierce-Sands share a decades-long mutual friendship, professional admiration, and a familial-like bond, stemming from when Pierce-Sands first witnessed Grace, choreographed by Brown for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York; she was overcome and deeply moved by the reverence, profound sense of humanity, and tender vulnerability of his work. Over the years, Brown and TU Dance have shared a prolific, collaborative relationship, featuring Clear as Tear Water for Pierce-Sands as a McKnight Fellow recipient in 2005, and Where the Light Shines Through in 2017. Additionally, they have restaged an excerpt from his work, Four Corners, for students from The School at TU Dance Center and co-hosted a virtual Summer Intensive called Intersect, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and welcomed approximately 70 participants from around the world. Joining together for the first time live, on stage, TU Dance will perform alongside EVIDENCE in Where the Light Shines Through.
- How do dance schools influence the professional landscape of dance and the broader arts sector at regional, national, and global levels?
- In coming together to work on this single performance, how might each company’s dancers learn from or influence each other?
- How does the relationship between Brown and Pierce-Sands extend the lineage and legacy of contemporary dance?
During EVIDENCE’s 25th anniversary, Ronald K. Brown reflected on the meaning behind the company’s name, saying, “When a person steps into the world, he represents his families, teachers, and ancestors, and must move forward with a sense of accountability and responsibility. To be evidence. I wanted EVIDENCE to present a sense of history and a reflection of the human condition, to be a company in which people could see themselves in stories, music, and dance that celebrate who we are.” This philosophy is embodied in the story of Arcell Cabuag, whose journey with the company led to his evolution from a tap dancer to a master of Brown's African-based movement, and serves as a living example of how individuals carry and honor their history. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, EVIDENCE has grown to be an act of shared creative responsibility and a celebration of their deep friendship, making their bond a powerful form of evidence of the human condition and a reflection of who we are.
- How can connection with one’s personal, cultural, and artistic histories create accountability and responsibility?
- How does art reflect the human condition? How might dance uniquely reflect the conditions of our lives, families, teachers, and ancestors?
Acknowledgments
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
