Tri-C Performing Arts Announces 2023-2024 Performances
Six shows to feature jazz and dance in upcoming season
The upcoming Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Performing Arts season will include a diverse array of jazz and dance shows, with modern dance companies PHILDANCO! and the Paul Taylor Dance Company and four jazz concerts.
"We’re excited to present a season that has powerful social messages and swing at its core," said Terri Pontremoli, director of Tri-C Performing Arts. "We know the audiences will be moved."
The 2023-2024 lineup dates and times are as follows:
PHILADANCO! (presented in partnership with DANCECleveland)
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, 7:30 p.m., Mimi Ohio Theatre (Playhouse Square)
Tickets: Available via Playhouse Square
Founded in 1970 by Joan Myers Brown, PHILADANCO! makes its long-awaited return to Cleveland after more than 17 years. This thrilling program will feature a mix of contemporary dance works. PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation, creativity and preservation of predominantly African American traditions in dance. The company exhibits beautiful ballet techniques alongside contemporary movements showcasing the dancers’ talent.
A Tribute to Ruth Brown
Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, 7 p.m., Tri-C Metropolitan Campus Auditorium, 2809 Woodland Ave.
Tickets: $25 (Students free with ID)
This celebration of the “Queen of R&B,” Ruth Brown, will include a screening of George T. Nierenberg’s 1988 documentary, That Rhythm, Those Blues, followed by a live performance of music from “Fine Brown Frame” — the 1968 recording by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra featuring Brown. Vocalist Shenel Johns will be joined by Dominick Farinacci and the East Central Jazz Educators All-Star Big Band — aka Madd for Tadd — under the direction of Steve Enos.
Paul Taylor Dance Company (presented in partnership with DANCECleveland)
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m., Mimi Ohio Theatre (Playhouse Square)
Tickets: Available via Playhouse Square
The legendary Paul Taylor Dance Company returns, now under the leadership of former Taylor dancer Michael Novak. The Paul Taylor Dance Company is renowned for its movement invention, athleticism and intricate musicality. The evening will include some of the company's most beloved favorites, including Brandenburgs, a classic work demonstrating humanity, musicality and buoyancy, and Somewhere in the Middle by Amy Hall Garner, showcasing colorful costumes and American Jazz favorites.
Christian McBride, The Movement Revisited
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m., Maltz Performing Arts Center, 1855 Ansel Road
Tickets: $35 (Students free with ID) via Maltz Box Office
Eight-time Grammy-winning bassist, bandleader and host of NPR’s Jazz Night in America Christian McBride presents his acclaimed opus, The Movement Revisited, as an epic concert event honoring five Civil Rights icons: Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr. and former President Barack Obama. In addition to a big band, narrators and gospel choir, the presentation features pianist Geoffrey Keezer, drummer Terreon Gully, saxophonist Ron Blake and vocalist Alicia Olatuja.
The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Scotty Barnhart
Wednesday, March 27, 2024, 7:30 p.m., Tri-C Metropolitan Campus Auditorium, 2809 Woodland Ave.
Tickets: $40 general admission, $75 premium seats (Students $10)
In its 88-year history, the Count Basie Orchestra has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once and 18 Grammy Awards, performed for kings, queens and other world royalty, appeared in several movies and television shows and played every major jazz festival and concert hall in the world. Nearly 40 years after Basie’s passing, he is the only bandleader whose orchestra still performs sold-out shows — with members personally chosen by him. Vocalist Carmen Bradford, discovered and hired by Basie at age 22, will be featured.
Sean Jones “Dizzy Spellz”
Friday, April 5, 2024, 7:30 p.m., Tri-C Metropolitan Campus Auditorium, 2809 Woodland Ave.
Tickets: $35 (Students free with ID)
Native Clevelander Sean Jones returns home with a project that combines tap dancing and vocals with the music of Dizzy Gillespie. Teaming up with choreographer Brinae Ali, Jones fuses elements of jazz, tap, hip-hop and bebop to articulate the social vernacular language of the African American experience. Jones is comfortable in any setting, no matter the genre. From 2004-2010, he served as the lead trumpeter of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 2015, he was tapped to join the SFJAZZ Collective. He has been prominently featured in recordings with Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson and Marcus Miller. An internationally recognized educator, he holds the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at the Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory and serves as the artistic director for the NYO JAZZ program at Carnegie Hall.
Tri-C Performing Arts is supported by Scott Balogh and Stacey Banks, Jim Wadsworth Productions, the Kulas Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and Ohio Arts Council.
September 22, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Anthony Moujaes, 216-987-3068 or anthony.moujaes@tri-c.edu