Rainbow Dance Theatre honors Martin Luther King

From Hawaiian and West African world dance to cutting-edge athletic modern dance, Rainbow Dance Theatre does it all.

Because of the theatre’s multicultural roots, versatility and diversity, Festival Dance & Performing Arts asked Rainbow Dance to perform at Beasley Coliseum in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The program, titled “One Village, Many Tribes,” will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

“This is the first time we have presented a program for Martin Luther King Day,” said Joann Muneta, Festival Dance education coordinator. “We feel it’s a good fit because the arts, and especially dance, speak a universal language that fit in with the unifying goals that are part of the heritage of Dr. King.”

Rainbow Dance Theatre was established in Hawaii in 1991 and moved to Oregon in 2001. Presently, it is located at Western Oregon University.

“The company blends not only people of different backgrounds, creating a rainbow of people, but also different dance styles,” explains Darryl Thomas, who directs the company with partner Valerie Bergman. Rainbow Dance Theatre has toured throughout the world, performing in Europe, Asia, the United States and Mexico. The company represented the state of Hawaii at the 1992 World Expo in Seville, Spain, and represented the state of Oregon at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan.

Rainbow Dance Theatre enhances its uniqueness in dance performance with its strong group of male dancers. “Yogaboyz,” one of the pieces the male dancers will perform at Beasley, exemplifies the dancers’ strength and stamina. Another selection on the program is titled “Mixed Bag,” which portrays both a humorous and poignant view of humanity’s overwhelming production of garbage. The piece utilizes garbage bags in both set and costume design.

Darryl Thomas, the group’s artistic director, has toured throughout the world as a dancer and artistic collaborator in the world-renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre. He received an Emmy for his 1996 Kennedy Center performance in the work “Untitled.” Thomas also performed in the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia and with Assane Kante’s Kandouan West African Dance Company.

Before establishing Rainbow Dance Theatre, Valerie Bergman danced in New York City with many internationally recognized post-modern choreographers, including Merce Cunningham and Nina Wiener. During her time with the Nina Wiener Dance Company, she served as principal dancer and ballet mistress, starred in several world premieres at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Dance Festival, and appeared on Public Broadcasting Service and Dutch National Television.

In addition to the Jan. 17 public performance, Rainbow Dance Theatre will present two school shows on Jan. 18. One program at Beasley Coliseum is for all area 6th graders, and the other program will be held at Troy High School for grades 7 through 12. The programs, titled “Roots of Hip Hop,” explain how the rich artistic and cultural heritage of African Americans has grown to be a strong and vibrant culture in the U.S. The school shows are assisted by the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the Latah County Human Rights Task Force and the Latah County Arts & Culture Committee.

Center section tickets for the Rainbow Dance Theatre are priced at $22 adults, $16 for students and $12 for children age 12 and under. All seats in the balcony are $12 and all seats in the first seven rows are $25. Tickets are on sale at Beasley, The Depot, UI North Campus Center, Albertsons in Lewiston, and through TicketsWest. Discounts for groups of 10 or more are available through the Festival Dance office at 883-3267.

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