If you’re looking for a dance show that offers true variety and electrifying energy, look no further than Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s run at The Joyce this Fall. Originally founded as a company for dancers of color and rooted in the African American dance tradition, DCDC showcases a strong reverence for its roots while venturing into the many worlds of contemporary dance. This triple bill masterfully embraces the idea of the contemporary in the eyes of the layperson — it is a true demonstration of modern dance, dances of the past century, in all its genres and iterations; from the highly athletic and balletic contemporary dance of Ray Mercer to the dynamic blend of hip hop, jazz, and house by the incomparable Rennie Harris, and finally to the iconic pedestrian movement of Paul Taylor’s Esplanade. Aside from the general awe-inspiring program, the show in itself is historic. With this presentation at The Joyce, DCDC becomes the first African American company to add Paul Taylor’s Esplanade to its repertoire.

50 years ago a girl ran to catch a bus and choreographer Paul Taylor, witnessing the moment, turned it into a dance in five movements. To mark this milestone in the history of the national treasure known as Esplanade, the Paul Taylor Dance Company will be making a suitable splash come November at New York’s Lincoln Center. However, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company has beat them to it. 

For a company of 17 dancers in a Rust Belt city, Dayton maintains an impressively large tent. Among modern dance companies committed to portraying the African American experience through dance, Dayton may have the broadest repertory – housing work by Donald McKayle, Talley Beatty, Eleo Pomare, Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham and Doug Varone, to name a few. 

The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) is one of the heartland’s preeminent dance companies. The company is fifty-six years young and has remained rooted in sharing the experiences of Americans of African decent through movement. This 2016 conversation with DCDC Artistic Director Debbie Blunden- Diggs took place during the company’s performances of Rainbow Round My Shoulder as guest artists with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at State Theater in Lincoln Center.

The company received a Bessie Award (The New York Dance and Performance Awards) that same year for Outstanding Revival for Rainbow. Blunden and I discuss the importance of keeping masterworks like Rainbow alive and on stage for the next generation of balletomanes. Her comments and commitment still ring true as DCDC become the first African American modern dance company to perform one of Taylor’s  signature masterwork Esplanade during the company’s 2024 Joyce Theater season October 2- 6.

Dayton native Jeraldyne Blunden was a trailblazer. In 1963, during a time of uncertainty and unrest in America, she had the vision to create a dance school for African-American youth, who were excluded from Dayton’s segregated dance studios. With a troop of outstanding dancers, she established the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in 1968.

Now in its 56th season, DCDC has grown to be widely regarded as one of the nation’s best and most historically significant arts institutions, proudly boasting the largest repertory of works by Black choreographers in the world.

“We are a company of professional dance artists who are bold, electrifying, masterfully skilled and innovative. DCDC engages audiences through their hearts, minds, spirits and our common humanity, artfully demonstrating the power of the moving body,” said Shola Odumade, grants administrator for DCDC. “DCDC remains a vital performing arts institution and a seasoned educational resource locally and around the world.”

For its latest tour to New York, the venerable Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is promoting its acquisition of Paul Taylor’s Esplanade. And why not? As the first African-American troupe to perform this 1975 evergreen, Dayton has beat Ailey to it...