{"id":298,"date":"2022-11-04T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robiky.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2023-10-17T00:32:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T00:32:31","slug":"jennifer-archibalds-guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-premieres-at-richmond-ballet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/robiky.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/04\/jennifer-archibalds-guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-premieres-at-richmond-ballet\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Archibald\u2019s \u201cGuess Who\u2019s Coming to Dinner\u201d Premieres at Richmond Ballet"},"content":{"rendered":"
Recent ballets by choreographer Jennifer Archibald<\/a> explore how dancing creates a distinct kind of remembrance, homage and hopefulness. This week, her unique combination of choreography and documentary brings together political history, a cinematic classic and Richmond Ballet<\/a>. Entitled Guess Who\u2019s Coming to Dinner,<\/em> her new ballet <\/a>was inspired by the 1967 film<\/a> of the same title that starred Sidney Poitier. The film plot features a white woman bringing Poitier, her fianc\u00e9, home to meet her supposedly liberal white parents.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until June 12, 1967, six months before the film was released, that interracial marriage was legalized. That court case, Loving v. Virginia<\/a>, took place in the state where Archibald was commissioned to make a ballet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt started with Guess Who\u2019s Coming to Dinner<\/em>,\u201d says Archibald. \u201cI wanted to pay homage to this historic film through a ballet, as a step toward changing the narratives seen on stages. The spine of the story is about love, and the music for the ballet binds together themes of compassion, love and civil rights history. Singers\u2019 voices inspire dancers to respond physically and to explore vulnerability as part of loving relationships. The ballet\u2019s duets reflect the highs and lows that are part of unconventional relationships, historically and today.\u201d<\/p>\n The score includes music by Sam Cooke<\/a>, a central figure in the civil rights movement, who imbues the ballet with a soulful and poignant acoustic landscape.<\/p>\n