Souls of Our Feet: People of Color Dance Festival at LIU Brooklyn

Come one! Come all! Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC), in association with LIU Brooklyn’s Kumble Theater, present the annual “Souls of Our Feet: People of Color Dance Festival,” June 17 at 7 p.m. and June 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. A mainstay on the New York dance landscape, the festival continues to provide a platform for dancers of color. LIU Brooklyn has served as the festival’s home since 1992.

The highlight of the 37th season is the revival of “Tilt,” by renowned Tony and Emmy Award-winning choreographer and director George Faison. Originally choreographed for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1975, “Tilt” foreshadowed the end of pinball machines and the coming age of video games. The work is set to the music of Labelle and Ashford & Simpson.

The festival opens June 17, with “Tilt” and new works from dance powerhouse Sidra Bell and the Philadelphia-based, Dance 4 Nia. On June 19, a special evening entitled, “Dance Sons of Brooklyn,” includes works from Germaul Barnes, Malcolm Low and Jamal Jackson. The season closes with presentations from choreographer and former Hamburg Ballet principal dancer Francesca Harper, the New York-based company DANCE IQUAIL and Faison’s “Tilt.”

“This is the season of our discontent. It is at both the best of times and worst of times. The arts, and dance in particular find themselves under great financial strains due to scarce and dwindling funding outlets. But THPAC, which has weathered many a storm, has mined the dance community for the best of the best once again to bring to the stage and to our audiences. We just keep going!” says Alex Smith, Jr. THPAC’s executive chairman.

Kumble Theater is located on Flatbush Avenue between DeKalb Avenue and Willoughby Street. Tickets are $15/$12 (students and seniors). Specially priced tickets are $10 before June 17. Purchase tickets at the Kumble Theater box office at (718) 488-1624 or online at www.kumbletheater.org. For more information about the festival, visit www.thelmahill.com.

About Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC)

The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC) was founded 35 years ago to support the creative ideas of choreographers and dance companies of color.  The mission of the organization is to offer performance opportunities to artists so they can share their work with diverse communities; furnish rehearsal and "incubation" space for choreographers and dancers, and serve as a bridge between artists and the community.

Over the years, THPAC has supported and attracted emerging and established dance artists of color who seek out the organization’s experimental, yet historically aware environment. THPAC has become a viable institution for communities that have traditionally celebrated and reflected on their social and cultural issues through the rituals of music, dance, literature and performance.

THPAC’s founder Larry Phillips began working as a dance therapist in Brooklyn at a community center that sponsored children's education and support programs for single parents attending New York Technical College. The programs were the forerunner of THPAC. In 1977, he renamed the organization after his deceased but renowned and highly influential teacher, Thelma Hill.

Hill is remembered as a positive force in the dance world of New York City and beyond. She also danced with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the historically significant New York Negro Ballet Company. She was a member of the dance faculty at the American Dance Festival and devoted herself to teaching dance most notably at the Clark Center. She died tragically in a fire in November 1977, but her passion in nurturing talent lives on in the organization that proudly bears her name.