Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Clifton Brown and Linda Celeste Sims in Ulysses Dove's Urban Folk Dance

Repertory

Urban Folk Dance

CHOREOGRAPHER

COMPANY PREMIERE

New York City Center, 1995

WORLD PREMIERE

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, 1990

ASSISTANT(S) TO CHOREOGRAPHER

Dawn Wood

RESTAGING

Masazumi Chaya

MUSIC

“Flint” by Michael Torke, by arrangement with Adjustable Music, publisher and copyright holder. Bill Holab Music: Sole Agent.

LIGHTING

Mark Stanley

SET AND COSTUME DESIGN

Andrew Jackness

RUN TIME

9 Minutes

In Ulysses Dove’s Urban Folk Dance, two couples living side-by-side search for connection as they engage in ferocious power struggles. Characterized by a seamless blend of expressive theatricality and heart-stopping athleticism, Dove's choreography brilliantly captures the raw complexity of modern relationships.  

Like many of Dove’s ballets, Urban Folk Dance explores the complex, sometimes bitter facets of love and passion. “Dove had such a sense of relationships,” says former Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya. “In his ballets, women and men are equally strong, physically and emotionally. When I teach Ulysses’ ballets, I tell the dancers, ‘You can move big, but you have to be real.’” Most of the movement takes place around two tables, and the four dancers remain onstage for the entire piece. This staging keeps the tension alive and heightens the suspense. “It’s an emotional roller-coaster,” Chaya adds. “That’s what Ulysses wanted to convey.”