We went to see Coming of the King on a Sunday afternoon and it was the closest we’ve come to being in church for a long time. Conceived, directed, and choreographed by Terence Greene as a multi-racial version of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, Coming of the King presented dancers selected in city-wide auditions.
“I want a really multi-racial company,” said Greene. “My whole grant was about bringing my city together.”
Greene himself appeared before the curtains opened calling out “All praise to God, Creator of all things,” and the audience / congregation knew their responses well, clapping and calling out affirmations. Then the curtains opened on an extended fanfare danced to recorded percussion, one youthful ensemble after another — nearly 40 dancers in all — entering and exiting performing what we’d describe as Africanist vernacular style theatrical dancing. It was a colorful, dazzling curtain opener and even the youngest dancers performed with considerable energy and precision, maintaining unison during rhythmically complex sequences.
Narrator Reggie Scott appeared in colorful African / Biblical robes declaiming from the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” Emani Drake as Mary and Phillip Williams as Joseph formed a tableau as the Narrator recited from Matthew, “Joseph, do not fear to take Mary as your wife…” As the Narrator recited the line of decent from Abraham to David to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus…” the dancers wound around the stage in a lengthening procession, a simple but apt metaphor.
Act One continued for 5 scenes and a finale covering in dance and narration the birth in a stable, the adoration of the newborn, the shepherds, the wise men, and Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. Older, more proficient dancers did much of the solo dancing but younger dancers took some solos, too. We particularly enjoyed the dancing of one little boy in Behold the Lamb, 12 year old Demetrius Lee. He had legs that went way up high! And feet! We hear that he aspires to become a member of New York City Ballet.
In Act Two the Narrator appeared in a contemporary business suit and preached a homily that touched on current issues including “our own Tamir Rice.” The dancing commenced with an ensemble dance to the spiritual Wade in the Water. Although the white costumes were highly reminiscent of Alvin Ailey’s for the same song in Revelations, we’d argue that Greene’s choreography was significantly different in that it stayed closer to the Biblical content of the song while Ailey’s Wade in the Water lapsed into pageantry for the sake of pageantry.
Another scene in Act Two, To Live is Christ, constituted a missed opportunity for the male ensemble. If Greene does this show again next year, you young men of African, European, and Asian ancestry need to get out there and represent.
Throughout the two acts the dancers made many, many costume changes, adding considerably to the appeal of Coming of the King in this and future performances. Those costumes were designed and constructed by Donna Berry, Dava Cansler, Nicole Drake, Terence Greene, Casey Hillard, Roxanne Parker, and Suz Pisano.
White and secular though we are, we found a lot to like in Coming of the King, a holiday dance pageant that celebrates the birth of Christ and the Christian life as seen through a lens of African-American song, dance, and vernacular speech. Performed by a largely amateur ensemble, Coming of the King attracts an audience that includes many family members of the cast.
Choreographed, costumed, and presented with considerable flair, it provides a stirring entertainment for general audiences. Like that other perennial holiday entertainment, Nutcracker, it provides a training ground for dancers while it introduces audiences to the possibilities of dance. Greene has set an enormous amount of dancing on his cast and they brought it off with nary a hitch on Sunday. At the same time, Greene and his dancers have represented their religious convictions with a sincerity that we feel will resonate with audiences both religious and secular.
Coming of the King was performed on Sat 12/13 and Sun 12/14 at Tri-C Eastern Campus Main Theatre. It received support from a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Community Partnership for Arts and Culture.
Learn more about Greene Works Project including summer intensive and upcoming performances.
And mark your calendars for the beginning of IABD on Wednesday, January 21, 2015. Five days of performances, master classes, panels, and auditions http://clevelanddancemovement.org.
A correction: In our preview of this same performance we incorrectly stated that Terence Greene is currently Dance Director at Cleveland School of the Arts. In fact, Greene recently resigned from his position with CSA in order to devote more time to his company, Greene Works Project.
[Photo: Dancers – Emani Drake, Phillip Williams; Photography – Rebekah Kuczma]
From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas. Elsa and Vic are both longtime Clevelanders. Elsa is a landscape designer. She studied ballet as an avocation for 2 decades. Vic has been a dancer and dance teacher for most of his working life, performing in a number of dance companies in NYC and Cleveland. They write about dance as a way to learn more and keep in touch with the dance community. E-mail them at vicnelsaATearthlink.net.