African/American Epic Tale Is Told for Albion College Spring Dance Performance
Monday, April 17, 2006

Reported by Jake Weber

ALBION, Mich. — Poetry, drama, hardworking students and a world-class choreographer come together at Albion College for an exciting and unique performance during this year’s Spring Dance Performance. “Child Come Home,” a collaborative effort between the Albion College Dance program and choreographer John Parks, is presented Thursday, April 27, at 8:30 p.m.; Friday April 28, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. All performances will take place in Herrick Theater, in the College’s Dow Recreation Complex.

“Child Come Home” is a multimedia work inspired by the life of African-American anthropologist Pearl Primus, who worked in Africa and the American Deep South during the 20th century, studying both cultures and their shared roots. “It’s really a history of Africa and African-Americans as Primus saw them,” said Missy Wyss, director of Albion College’s dance program.

The work includes six separate dances, set to a variety of music, poetry and narration written by Albion College English professor Charles Crupi. “Primus brought many African dances to the U.S., and was a big influence on the early modern dance movement,” Wyss noted. “We will have a dance done by Watusi lion hunters, a dance about girls’ passage to womanhood, and Western dances too.”

While the piece was written specifically for the students currently in Albion’s dance program, Wyss noted that it is still a big performance challenge. “Telling history in this way, the students have to be actors, not just dancers,” she said. “John has really impressed upon the students that every action must have a meaning, otherwise the energy isn’t there for getting the story across to the audience.”

“Child Come Home” is a homecoming of sorts for Parks, who teaches dance at the University of South Florida. Parks spent a year in Albion in the late 1980s, working both with College students at the Albion community.

The dance recital will feature works choreographed by dance program students. Tickets are $2 for students, staff, faculty and seniors and $3 for general admission. They can be purchased at the Kellogg Center the week of the performance or at the door. Reservations are encouraged. For information or to reserve tickets, contact the Herrick Theater box office at 629-0344 or theatre@albion.edu.

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