William Parker and the “Tone Motion Theatre”

Saturday, January 17, 2015 @ 8:00 pm

Roulette is honored to present William Parker and the “Tone Motion Theatre” featuring the New York premiere of Yes I Dreamed of Freedom, a moving tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. and the fifth part of Parker’s work, Flower In a Stained Glass Window.

Flower In a Stained Glass WindowPart Five:  Yes I Dream Of FreedomDedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
All music and words by William Parker
Additional Text by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This new work will have its New York premiere performance on the eponymous holiday weekend and will be performed by the Transformational Music Ensemble, a new music chamber group lead by Keir Neuringer, the Spirit Catchers Ensemble, consisting of five improvising musicians composing on the spot: Daniel Carter, Joe McPhee, Hamid Drake, Cooper Moore and William Parker and, a vocal ensemble featuring Fay Victor, Kyoko Kitamura and Anais Maviel.

The Transformational Music Ensemble will interpret the written score composed by Parker, and will serve as both the back drop and catalyst to the improvisations being created by the Spirit Catchers Ensemble and words of the vocal ensemble. Dance choreographed by Patricia Nicholson.

The performance, a dedication to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, takes the audience back to the April 4, 1968. A dying Doctor King’s spirit leaves his body and as he transcends, he encounters a Lakota: Tašúŋke Witkó, who was rushing to the scene to bring him back to life through music, sound and movement. Instead of reminiscing of the past, they talk about how the revolution must come from within and that freedom cannot be handed out, it is already inside of us.

read more: http://roulette.org/events/william-parker-tone-motion-theatre/