Returning to Los Angeles to present its critically acclaimed combination of African dance and contemporary European-based movement vocabularies, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company will present three evenings at the Bram Goldsmith Theater of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Thursday through Saturday, October 8-10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting a four-piece program of repertory works choreographed by the multi-award-winning company namesake, the evening includes:
“Upside Down” (1998), which begins as a depiction of a community in mourning but soon evolves into what’s been described in the Fjord Review as “high voltage movement,” accompanied by music by Fela Kuti.
Created as part of the centennial anniversary of the iconic drummer, composer and activist, “Max Roach 100/Tender Warriors” (2024), explores the Afro-Cuban rhythms in Roach’s 1961 album, “Percussion Bitter Sweet.”
“Clear as Tear Water” (2006) embraces a poem written by the dancemaker that is described in promotional materials as a “meditation on love.”
Finally, jumping off of the creative and politically active outpourings of jazz vocalist Nina Simone and Nigerian Fela Kuti is “Come Ye” (2002). This multimedia explosion incorporates African, Caribbean, modern, ballet and social dance styles. As much as it can be discerned in abstract movement terms, the piece is a call to action for peace.
Promotional materials describe the company’s title, EVIDENCE, as a mission. The director, a Bedford/Stuyvescent (Brooklyn) native, “wants people—especially young people and people of color—to see a reflection, or evidence, of their families, their neighbors, their stories and their circumstances on stage.”
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION: Bram Goldsmith Theater, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills 90210
TICKETS: $35.20-$101.20 https://tickets.thewallis.org
INFO: https://thewallis.org/show-details/ronald-k-brown-/-evidence
Photo from “Tender Warriors” by Studio Aura