Dance Department Presents Work About Muhammad Ali

The Department of Dance welcomes choreographer Christal Brown and a nine-member male ensemble for a one-night only performance of The Opulence of Integrity: A Movement Odyssey Exploring the Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali on Friday, January 29.

This riveting multimedia dance theater work, inspired by the public life and inner searching of boxing’s outspoken superstar, is presented in four chapters. Using Ali’s story as a social activist, public martyr, and human being, The Opulence of Integrity explores the struggle for identity among men of color in the United States. The performance by six professional dancers and three actors incorporates spoken text, imagery, and elements of boxing, hip hop, martial arts, and modern dance, with an original sound score by Zimbabwean composer Farai Malianga.

A North Carolina native and former principal dancer with Urban Bush Women, Christal Brown is the chair of the dance department at Middlebury College in Vermont and the founder of INSPIRIT, Project: BECOMING, a performance and educational organization that promotes and supports female choreographers. Studying dance at UNC Greensboro, she began her professional career with Chuck Davis’s African-American Dance Ensemble and apprenticed with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company before joining Urban Bush Women. Brown will be in residency at UNC Charlotte for two weeks in January.

The performance on January 29 will take place at 7:30 pm in the Anne R. Belk Theater at Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts on the UNC Charlotte campus. The Department will host a free pre-concert talk with Dr. Gregory Mixon, associate professor of African American history, at 6:30 pm in Robinson 118. Tickets are $25 for general audiences, $10 for seniors, and $8 for all students and can be purchased online or by calling 704-687-1849. Please visit arts.uncc.edu for details.