Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue 
Pictured from left: Christopher Page-Sanders, Shaquelle Charles, and Demetia Hopkins  
Photo: Paula Lobo @paulalobo 


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

Dianne McIntyre Group: The Company Artists


Shaquelle Charles, Da’Von Doane, Demetia Hopkins, Kyle H. Martin, Christopher Page-Sanders, Brianna Rhodes, Kamryn Vaulx

Gerald Brazel – trumpet, Hilliard Greene – bass, Cleave Guyton Jr. – woodwinds, Reggie Nicholson – drums 

Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue 
Pictured from left: Demetia Hopkins, Kyle H. Martin, Da’Von Doane, Brianna Rhodes, Kamryn Vaulx. In the background: Reggie Nicholson (drums) Hilliard Greene (bass), Gerald Brazel (trumpet), Cleave Guyton Jr. (Saxophone) Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 

Project Description

IN THE SAME TONGUE is a vibrant full-length movement, sound, and language based-work. Dance legend and choreographer, Dianne McIntyre, unites a vigorous company of dancers and musicians to explore how dance and music “speak” to each other.

With original music by celebrated composer Diedre Murray, it reveals how language creates worlds of beauty, alienation, harmony, tension, or peace. Dynamic vignettes ignite the stage, including McIntyre’s autobiographical stories with “the music”—such as the musical influence of the Black Arts Movement—and feature the poetry of Obie-winning playwright Ntozake Shange. 

 

Dianne McIntyre Group In the Same Tongue 
Foreground: Brianna Rhodes.

Background: Demetia Hopkins  

Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 

Dianne McIntyre Group: In the Same Tongue 


From left in the front row: Demetia Hopkins, Da’Von Doane, Kyle H. Martin. From left in back row: Reggie Nicholson, Kamryn Vaulx, Cleave Guyton Jr., Brianna Rhodes, Gerald Brazel 

Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 

 

Dianne McIntyre Group In the Same Tongue 
Foreground: Kamryn Vaulx, Da’Von Doane, Kyle H. Martin

Photo by Kameron Herndon, courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 

About the artist: Dianne McIntyre

Photo by McKinley Wiley

Dianne McIntyre is a 2022 Dance Magazine Award Honoree and recipient of a 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund.  Known for her concert dance work with celebrated artists on the cutting edge of music primarily in the Black spectrum, she also choreographs for theatre, film and opera.  Her work appears in the 2022 opera Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon for Lincoln Center Theater and broadcast on PBS.  She has choreographed for numerous companies including Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as well as her own companies - most notably, Sounds in Motion.  The company/school was a vital institution in Harlem where artists met, collaborated and were nurtured at the studio. The Sounds in Motion company toured internationally. McIntyre's screen credits include Beloved (from Toni Morrison's novel) and Miss Evers' Boys garnering her an Emmy nomination.  Other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Doris Duke Artist Award, a Dance/USA Honor Award, a United States Artists Doris Duke Fellowship, National Black Theatre Teer Pioneer Award, Def Dance Jam Community Butterfly Award, American Dance Festival Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching, Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award/College of Arts and Sciences the Ohio State University, two Audelcos, three Bessies and two Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees (from SUNY Purchase and Cleveland State University).  Dianne McIntyre also enjoys developing dance-driven dramas from her interviews about real life stories.  Two of these are I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change (her father's stories) and Open the Door, Virginia! (1950s civil rights stories). McIntyre’s mentors include Elaine Gibbs Redmond, Gus Solomons jr, Louise Roberts, Vera Blaine, Helen Alkire and Richard Davis. With Risa Steinberg, Dianne McIntyre is the co-director of the Jacob's Pillow Hicks Choreography Fellows Program. 

PRESS: IN THE SAME TONGUE In The News

 “Dianne McIntyre is the queen of dance collaborations and improvisations” - Sheila Regan (STAR TRIBUNE)

 

“There is not a single descriptor that is Dianne McIntyre...Watching her dance and create these stories are lessons in enlightenment.” - Charmaine Warren (DANCE MAGAZINE)

 

“With a career spanning five decades, Dianne McIntyre is one of the most important artists in the American dance scene.” - Veta Goler (WALKER REVIEW)

Dianne McIntyre’s In the Same Tongue Residency at MANCC 
Photo by Chris Cameron 

Review of IN THE SAME TONGUE from its avant-première in Minneapolis:

Dianne McIntyre's 'In the Same Tongue' powerfully melds poetry, music and dance by Sheila Regan 

Check out this article which profiles Dianne McIntyre in the New York Times:

The Tom Brady of Other Jobs by Francesca Paris 


 

DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

In The Same Tongue is Commissioned by Walker Art Center, Northrop at the University of Minnesota, Duke University, Apollo Theater, Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts’ Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence Program, ArtsEmerson and Thomas M. Neff.

Additional development support provided by The Ford Foundation, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, Dance Place /Alan M. Kriegsman Creative Residency, Doris Duke Foundation.

In the Same Tongue was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and The Mellon Foundation.

Special thanks to: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance, Rod Williams, Vincent Henry, Careitha Davis, Matia Johnson, Nehemiah Spencer, Cara Hagan, Elias Bailey, Donna M. Whyte, Cheryl Banks-Smith, Georgiana Pickett, Anna Glass, Mikki Shepard, Sali Ann Kriegsman