Two Othellos

Two dance companies + one Shakespearian tragedy = a night of dance you will never forget. For two performances only, ADI presents an evening of Othello featuring a new modern dance reconstruction of the Shakespearian play by critically acclaimed choreographer Doug Elkins juxtaposed against a balletic retelling of the evocative tale of power, love, jealousy and race by Ballet ADI Artistic Director Runqiao Du.

With Mo(or)town/Redux, Doug Elkins returns to a movement conversation begun in 1990 with Shakespeare’s Othello and Jose Limon’s seminal The Moor’s Pavane. Like Limon, Elkins transforms the text of Shakespeare’s tragedy into a dance piece for four characters — Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emelia — and the simple prop of a handkerchief. Using music of the Motown and neo-Motown sound, Elkins explores themes of power, love, jealousy, and race that are so prevalent in Shakespeare’s play and the history of Berry Gordy’s Motown record label.