American Dance Festival Tickets

Fabulous performance

Carolina Theatre - Durham

High energy ! Fun ! Really breathtaking dance moves. Energetic music. Loved it !!!

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

If you have never seen the African American Dance Ensemble - run don't walk! and the Charlotte Ballet was a wonderful surprise.

Family event

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

I thoroughly enjoyed the event. All of the companies provided performances that were breathtaking

Fantastico!

Carolina Theatre - Durham

The energy, versatility, and passion combined with the costumes and music had me on a high through the next day. Cuban culture at its finest!

dancers were interesting... show was so so

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

Not to be negative, but this was yet another DPAC show that was not worth the steep ticket price. The dance component was entertaining, but Ira Glass talked way too much. I think this show would be of interest mostly to diehard This American Life fans, rather than dance aficionados. I was mostly unimpressed. DPAC tickets are really expensive compared to other events in Durham (local music venues, Carolina Theater, Bulls, ...) and I really expected something way out of the ordinary.

Awesomely different show

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

I wasn't sure quite what to expect from this show, but being a This American Life nerd and general Ira Glass fan I figured I'd like it. I actually loved it. It was a bit like a live This American Life and a bit like a dance show with words and stories and a whole lot of awesome. I've never seen a show like it but would love to see similar works in the future. Highly recommend.

Creative, entertaining and uplifting

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

I bought these tickets not understanding what the show was about because I like Ira Glass on NPR. It was creative and highly entertaining. I laughed a lot and enjoyed the dancers. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun evening.

A wonderful evening

Carolina Theatre - Durham

Loved this show. The troupe Cutumba is said to be Cuba's top performing dancer group which I can well believe. The artistry and athleticism of the dancers, the show's rich offering of cultural pearls and audience-friendly personalities were all top-notch. A row of drummers, singers and other percussionists partially silhouetted against an orange screen formed the backdrop for most of the dances. The costumes were fantastic--I have seen the voluminous skirts and dresses used by Latin American dancers before, but never put to such dazzling, liquid motion as I saw on Thursday. Ruffles across the shoulders and skirts went all a-flutter in undulating waves as the women churned imaginary pots or hung up the laundry. There were gaudy vests and bright stripes at times. Other dances the men went bare-chested, and what fine, vigorous bodies they have! Props included long grass brush/fans, and spears for a warrior dance. Shoulder-shaking was a recurring theme in men and women. Their bodies moved freely, expressively, with somersaults, crotch hitching, sauntering, leaping--such a mix of styles and truly expert choreography! I wish I had more of a dance background to be better able to describe the complexity and diversity of movement--suffice it to say I was not bored for a moment. I would like to know more about our Cuban neighbors. The history and context of each dance were scarcely described by just a line or two in the program--I would have been glad to read more about them. Most of the lyrics were in some indigenous language(s), with a bit of Spanish mixed in. The opening piece introduced the various main deities--from Yoruba culture if I am remembering correctly--three gods and three goddesses who each danced in turn, displaying their distinct, colorful personalities. In the third to last piece the dancers wore flat wicker flip flops and beat out a lovely sound wall of rhythm for us, with their feet. The final dance involved a maypole dance and I won't spoil the surprise, but I will say it left our group a-chatter. Before the show one of the drummers came forward and thanked us in Spanish for being there. Cultural icon Chuck Davis gave us a warm, humorous welcome before that. Once the curtains had parted, the singers came to the forefront twice with lovely solos as the dancers recovered backstage, one sung by the improbably tall master-of-ceremonies type, the other a lullaby about the little baby god Ochun who "quiere mucho a su mamá" [loves his mother so much]. Later there was a third musical offering featuring the percussionists who bantered with each other non-verbally, eliciting the audience's support and participation by clapping rhythms for us to copy, which we had done before. We went with friends and our group included two ten-year-olds. I had bought the cheapest tickets, so we were seated in the second balcony. Moments before the show was to start, someone from the theater came to apologize for the lack of AC. He said they were working on it, but in the meantime invited us to be reticketed, so we ended up with seats in the orchestra section. The children couldn't see the stage as well from down on the floor, but at intermission I spotted some plastic seat boosters the theater had available and with that the children were peachy-keen. The AC on the main floor was cool and crisp, so if you are cold-natured like me, take a sweater.

Carolina Theatre - Durham

It was amazing and everybody especially the young. It was spectacular!

Too mature for kids

DPAC - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham

The kid’s matinee was based on the Greek myth of Antigone in which Oedipus kills his father to marry his mother. Thankfully the play was performed in Spanish, so my six year old son didn’t catch much of the content. He did notice that one of the characters jabbed his eyes out. Aside from the fact that this content was just too advanced for most kids, there was very little dancing! We love Flamenco but this was more of a play with a few bits of dancing rather than a flamenco performance based on a Greek myth.