David Roussève/REALITY: Halfway to Dawn

×

Expand

Photo by Rose Eichenbaum

David Roussève /REALITY

Duke Ellington didn’t write his band’s signature theme song, “Take The ‘A’ Train.” Billy Strayhorn, the Harlem Renaissance composer who spent his childhood in Hillsborough, did. During the quarter-century that he worked as Ellington’s arranger, collaborator, and sometimes, pianist, Strayhorn also penned “Lush Life,” “Chelsea Bridge,” and a number of other songs now recognized as jazz standards. Choreographer David Roussève spent the last year coaxing the unsung jazz great out of Ellington’s shadow, exploring the gay composer’s friendship with Martin Luther King Jr., his contributions to the civil rights movement, and his mentorship of jazz vocalist Lena Horne. On Thursday and Friday—before the Saturday premiere of Halfway to Dawn, the multimedia dance work based on Roussève’s research—NC State LIVE also presents free performances of local puppet wizard Jeghetto’s An Evening with Billy Strayhorn at Hunt Library. —Byron Woods