David Rousseve / REALITY
THE COMPANY
REALITY was founded in 1989 by David Roussève to perform his unique blend of dance/theater. REALITY is an ethnically, racially, and artistically diverse troupe comprised of six to up to a dozen performers. Individual members are distinguished by a wide range of backgrounds, from postmodern to world dance. “Part of my company’s artistic agenda is to create a dialogue with as many communities and audiences as possible, both on and off stage by using African American culture to speak on ‘universal issues of the heart’” explains Mr. Rousseve. “Rousseve’s dancers have modeled themselves on his physical courage, a willingness to push the body to extremes that reveals the ache of a restless soul” (The Village Voice).
In the 1990’s REALITY grew to become one of the most important voices in contemporary American dance. The company was commissioned three times by the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, where they enjoyed resounding critical and popular success in all three outings. The BAM works included Urban Scenes/Creole Dreams (in collaboration with Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Ysaye Barnwell), The Whispers of Angels (in collaboration with Grammy-winning jazz-funk artist Me’Shell N’degeOcello) and Love Songs (in collaboration with Tony-wining lighting designer Beverly Emmons). REALITY has also performed to overwhelming critical acclaim in venues ranging from intimate alternative theaters to vast opera houses across the globe, including the Serious Fun Festival at Lincoln Center, The Walker Art Center, Zellerbach Hall, Royce Hall, Queen Elizabeth Theatre in London’s South Bank Centre, Festival Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, The American Center in Paris, The Carlton Festival in Brazil, London’s Dance Umbrella, Manchester’s The Green Room, P.S. 122, The Kitchen, LaMama, The Joyce, Highways Performance Space, On the Boards, Gammage Hall, Houston’s Wortham Center, The Dance Center at Columbia College, and the Internationales Sommer Theater Festival in Hamburg.
During the 2001-2 seasons, REALITY toured The Ten Year Chat, David Roussève’s first solo evening in over ten years. In 2003-4, Roussève directed, choreographed, wrote, and co-produced the dance-for-camera Bittersweet for REALITY. The film premiered in 2005 at LA’s Dance Camera West Festival and had a sold-out showing at Lincoln Center as part of the Dance on Camera Festival. With the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Roussève, in 2009 REALTY premiered the choreographer’s latest full-length work Saudade, an ode to the word ‘bittersweet’ that layered Portuguese fado music, stories from southern African America, projected video, an elaborate set design, postmodern dance, and world dance (W. African, Indonesian, S. Asian). Saudade toured to major spaces nationally including the company’s first performances at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, Peak Performances at Montclair State University, and the venerable Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. REALITY’s performances at UCLA Live received two L.A. Horton Awards, including “Best Company Performance of 2009”.
The second dance film that Roussève created for REALITY, Two Seconds After Laughter, will premiere in 2012 at Lincoln Center as part of the Dance on Camera Festival. In 2013-14 REALITY will premiere the full-evening work Stardust.
REALITY’s touring engagements have always included company residencies that culminate in performances. Community activities have included a wide range of master classes, workshops, video screening, lectures, open rehearsals, and post-performance discussions for an equally wide range of (often disempowered) communities. The company is thrilled that Saudade- in the diversity of a cast that includes practitioners of South Asian, Indonesian, West African, and postmodern forms of movement- offers the opportunity to vastly expand residency offerings and to outreach to an even wider array of communities.