Production blurs the lines between language, music, and movement, featuring the work of composer Diedre Murray and poet and playwright Ntozake Shange
Performances April 12 – April 14, 2024
Photo by Kameron Herndon. Courtesy of The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
New York, NY—March 19, 2024 – The Apollo announced the return of world-renowned choreographer and dancer Dianne McIntyre for the New York premiere of her latest work, In the Same Tongue, a group show that explores the interplay between dance and music and the way the two “speak” to each other. The April performances unite a company of dancers and jazz ensemble, featuring original music by celebrated composer, cellist, and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Diedre Murray and poetry by Obie award-winning playwright and Emmy, Tony, and Grammy nominee Ntozake Shange. A vibrant work that combines vignettes of movement, sound, and language, In the Same Tongue reveals how language has the power to create worlds of beauty, alienation, harmony, tension, or peace.
Weaving together narratives of the past, present, and future of Black creativity, In the Same Tongue pays homage to McIntyre’s own dance company, Sounds in Motion, which was founded in 1972 and deeply influenced Harlem’s arts scene in the decades to follow. The company provided a space for what McIntyre called “the culture crowd,” and served as a convening point for Black artists, scholars, and activists. Among McIntyre’s many protegees were several prominent talents, including Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Kevin Wynn, Marlies Yearby, Mickey Davidson, Alde Lewis, Aziza, Charles Wallace, Sheila Barker, Malik Lewis, plus prominent dancers, professors, scholars, and countless others. The Apollo’s presentation of In the Same Tongue aims to recreate the energy of McIntyre’s salon gatherings.
“Dianne McIntyre is a living legend and we are delighted that she is not only bringing the New York premiere of her latest work to The Apollo’s newest space, but also that she is working as one of our New Works artists, joining the lineage of Black artists supported by our institution,” said The Apollo’s Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes. “Dianne has long been a pioneer of Black creativity, with her company serving as a gravitational center for the Harlem arts landscape in the 1970s and 80s. To welcome her back for our 90th anniversary is a full circle moment.”
“The Apollo has always been a place of cultivation and support for Black art—from live music and dance to poetry and the spoken word,” said McIntyre. “In the Same Tongue celebrates all of that, dissolving the barriers between these forms of expression to explore how they are all inextricably linked. I am so thrilled to come back home to Harlem and bring this work to life at The Apollo.”
The Apollo’s celebration of dance icons continues with Snakehips In Our DNA, a video exhibition by Talvin Wilks and Lajuné McMillian exploring the trajectory of dance from the Harlem Renaissance to the present. The exhibition is free and open to the public April 8 – April 20, Monday – Friday: 10am – 6pm, Saturdays 12pm – 5pm, and one hour before curtain during performances at The Apollo’s Stages at The Victoria.
Dianne McIntyre Group’s In The Same Tongue and Snakehips In Our DNA are a part of The Apollo’s Winter/Spring 2024 season.
PErformance Details
April 12–April 14, 2024
Friday, April 12, 8pm
Saturday, April 13, 2pm & 8pm
Sunday, April 14, 3pm
Tickets: $20
In the Same Tongue is a part of The Apollo’s New Works initiative and Winter 2024 season. Apollo New Works is generously supported by the Ford Foundation with additional funding from Mellon Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. In the Same Tongue is supported in part by The Harkness Foundation for Dance. Public support for In the Same Tongue is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
For accessibility concerns, please contact The Apollo Box office at [email protected] or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit. Learn more about our accessibility options here.
These performances will take place at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria Theater located at 233 W. 125th Street, Third Floor (between Adam Clayton Powell & Frederick Douglass Blvd).
Program Credits:
Conceived and choreographed by Dianne McIntyre
Original Music by Diedre Murray
Featuring poetry by Ntozake Shange
Music Direction by Gerald Brazel
Costume Design by Devario Simmons
Lighting Design by Alan C. Edwards
Scenic Design by Riw Rakkulchon
Dancers: Shaquelle Charles, Demetia Hopkins, Christopher Page-Sanders, Brianna Rhodes, Kamryn Vaulx
Musicians: Gerald Brazel (Trumpet), Hilliard Green (Bass), Mark Gross (Woodwinds), Reggie Nicholson (Drums/Percussion)
Guest Dancers: Elinor Kleber Diggs and Jordann Stoute
about dianne Mcintyre
Renowned choreographer Dianne McIntyre has long been regarded as an artistic pioneer, having spent the past five decades working in the world of dance. Known for her work in concert dance and collaborations with music innovators like Olu Dara, Hannibal Lokumbe, Cecil Taylor, Sharon Freeman, Max Roach, Amina Claudine Myers, Don Pullen, Abbey Lincoln, she has also choreographed for theater, film “Beloved” and “Miss Evers’ Boys”, and opera, notably in the 2022 opera Intimate Apparel for Lincoln Center Theater.
Her extensive career includes choreography for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and her own companies, like Sounds in Motion—which performed on prominent stages across the country and abroad, including The Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and The Joyce Theater. McIntyre’s accolades include a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Bessies, Doris Duke Artist Award, two AUDELOs, Emmy nomination, and numerous honors. She also creates dance-driven dramas from real-life stories. McIntyre co-directs the Jacob’s Pillow Hicks Choreography Fellowship Program with Risa Steinberg. Dianne is a 2022 Dance Magazine Award Honoree and 2023 Martha Hill Dance Fund Lifetime Achievement Awardee.
about The apollo
The legendary Apollo—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, The Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. In 2024, The Apollo opened The Apollo Stages at the Victoria Theater, marking the first ever expansion and renovation of The Apollo in its nearly 90-year history. The Apollo also has plans to renovate its Historic Theater. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
With music at its core, The Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend The Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, The Apollo has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at The Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R. D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and The Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
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Press Contacts
For more information, please contact:
Sydney Edwards
The Apollo
[email protected]
Resnicow and Associates
Elizabeth Cregan / Lauren Kelly
212-671-5183 / 212-671-5185