Edgecombe Performance Series Celebrates Twelfth Year
The 2016-2017 season of the Edgecombe Performance Series showcases hip hop and ballet, classical and Celtic, and theatre performances.
Celebrating its twelfth season, the Edgecombe Performance Series brings world class entertainment to Tarboro and Edgecombe County. All events take place in Keihin Auditorium on the Tarboro campus.
Season Twelve shows include:
FLY Dance Company
Saturday, November 5
7:30 pm
FLY Dance Company offers entertaining, clean-cut, fun concert performances as well as educational shows, workshops, and residencies, performing locally, nationally, and internationally throughout the year. FLY’s performance style is called theatrical hip hop – “theatrical” in that acting is an essential element of the style.
FLY’s performing repertory is varied musically and choreographically, and its dancers are skilled and highly adaptable. It is owned and operated by its core members Jorge Casco, Chris Cortez, Adam Quiroz, and Don Lee Rivera. Kathy Musick Wood, FLY’s founder and creator of the theatrical hip hop style, has returned as artistic director and choreographer and is adding new powerful concert pieces to the classic FLY repertory.
The company will conduct a master class/dance workshop for area dance students at 2 pm that afternoon, followed by their public performance at 7:30 pm. The workshop is open to area dance students ages 10 and up. Registration fee for the workshop is $5 per student.
Tickets for the evening performance are $20 for the general public and $15 for students (pre-K through college).
North Carolina Symphony Holiday Pops Concert
Thursday, December 8
7:30 pm
Founded in 1932 and subsequently the first state-supported symphony in the country, the North Carolina Symphony is a vital and honored component of North Carolina’s cultural life. Its 175 performances annually are greeted with enthusiasm throughout the state, in communities large and small, in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, and outdoor settings.
Under the artistic leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn, the orchestra has grown in stature and sophistication, now advancing a well-earned reputation for innovative programming and collaborative projects. The Holiday Pops concert has become a tradition in Tarboro, featuring wonderful music from the holiday season, the beloved holiday sing along, and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students (pre-K through college).
The Barter Players Perform Great Expectations
Thursday, February 16
7:30 pm
Barter Theatre, located in Abingdon, Virginia, opened on June 10, 1933, making it the nation’s longest running professional theatre. In 1946, Barter Theatre was designated as the State Theatre of Virginia. Today, Barter is one of the last year-round professional resident repertory theatres remaining in the United States.
Many well-known stars of stage, screen, and television have performed early in their careers at Barter, including Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine, Patricia Neal, and Ned Beatty.
The Barter Players perform at Barter Theatre in Abingdon each April through December. Then, during January, February, and March, the Players go on tour, performing at schools across the Eastern seaboard. In Tarboro, the Players will perform Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
This performance is sponsored by Furman Mathewson Trust of Edgecombe County Memorial Library. Admission is free, but tickets are required.
St. Patrick’s Day with Bill Leslie and Lorica
Friday, March 17
7:30 pm
Sometimes, leading a double life can be a really good thing – especially if you’re in the audience. Bill Leslie splits his brain, his breath, his time, his career, his very full life, and his very little sleep between two worlds. One casts him as the multiple Emmy and Peabody Award-winning broadcast morning news anchor at CBS affiliate Capitol Broadcasting/WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC.
His other equally-gratifying world is as a composer and musician – performing as leader of the Celtic/Folk/New Age-blended Bill Leslie & Lorica – a five-member ensemble whose albums have topped World Music charts in the U.S and abroad. His most recent recording,”Scotland: Grace of the Wild,” was named World Radio Album of the Year in 2013.
The concert is a ten-year return engagement, as Bill Leslie and Lorica appeared at ECC on March 17, 2007, during Season Two. Tickets for the concert are $10 each.
New York Theatre Ballet
Thursday, April 28
7:30 pm
New York Theatre Ballet was founded in 1978 by its artistic director, Diana Byer. It is the most widely seen chamber ballet company in the United States. “New York Theatre Ballet confirms its status as an invaluable company,” says Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times.
NYTB has earned national acclaim for its restoration and revival of small masterworks by great choreographers and for its innovative hour-long ballets based on children’s literature. NYTB tours family and adult programs both nationally and abroad. Its audiences know the company for its theatrical expressiveness, high production quality, and intimate accessibility to every audience member.
With sincere gratitude to the Furman Mathewson Trust of Edgecombe County Memorial Library, ECC is pleased to welcome New York Theatre Ballet back to Tarboro for a fifth straight season. Admission is free to the public, but tickets are required.
Tickets for all Edgecombe Performance Series events are available through the ECC Box Office on the Tarboro campus or online at www.etix.com. Season tickets are available (through the Box Office only) for $45 each.
For more information, please contact Cultural Arts Director Eric Greene at greenee@edgecombe.edu or (252) 823-5166, ext. 187.