New York City
Prophets of Funk celebrates the groundbreaking, visceral and politically innovative music of Sly and The Family Stone, one of the first major national bands integrated along race and gender lines. The piece for eight dancers explores the prophetic possibilities of music and dance and invites everyday people to find strength and joy in the muck and mess – the funk – of everyday life. The Joyce Theater performance will be the NYC premiere of the fully staged version of Prophets of Funk and a return of David Dorfman Dance to The Joyce for the first time since 2005.
Conceived and directed by David Dorfman, choreography and text by David Dorfman Dance. Collaborators on Prophets of Funk include OBIE Award winning dramaturge Alex Timbers, creative consultant/scholar-in-residence David Kyuman Kim, media designer Jacob Pinholster, sound designer Samuel Crawford, lighting designer David Weiner in association with Dans Sheehan, and the music of Sly & The Family Stone.
Dancers: Kyle Abraham, Meghan Bowden, David Dorfman, Luke Gutgsell, Renuka Hines, Raja Kelly, Kendra Portier, Karl Rogers, and Whitney Lynn Tucker.