Ayodele Casel, Rennie Harris Puremovement, and Ron K. Brown’s EVIDENCE, a dance company will perform at Mershon Auditorium, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, from 7:00 PM as the Wex joins a nationwide centennial celebration of Roach, with one of many presentations across the country.

Max Roach was born in Newland, N.C. in Pasquotank County.

Curated by Richard Colton and commissioned by the Joyce Theater, this special program brings artists together in conversation with Roach’s lasting legacy set to recordings of the late musician performing his greatest works.

Characterized by its Afro-Cuban percussion, the 1961 album Percussion Bitter Sweet becomes the soundscape for choreographer Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag’s latest work for dancers from EVIDENCE, A Dance Company, in their return to the Wex.

In “The Dream/It’s Time,” Roach’s band joins a recording of Martin Luther King Jr. in an aspirational and urgent conversation, now amplified by the streetdance storytelling of Rennie Harris Puremovement. Ayodele Casel approaches her solo dance performance as a “trio,” adding her singular percussive improvisation to the free jazz duet by Roach and fellow jazz pioneer pianist Cecil Taylor.

The Wexner Center is The Ohio State University’s multidisciplinary laboratory for contemporary art and culture.

Through exhibitions, performances, screenings, educational programs, artist residencies, and publications, the Wex serves as a vital forum where artists test ideas and where diverse audiences engage the art and issues of our time.

In its programs, the Wex balances a commitment to experimentation with a critical appreciation of the past. The Wex work affirms the university’s pursuit of civic participation, freedom of expression, and robust dialogue.

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