Artists & Genres
As Duke Performances’ network of venues spreads off-campus and downtown, our network of genres grows apace. In 2012/13, we continue to program the world’s finest classical and chamber music, jazz, pop, theater, and dance. Meanwhile, we expand our reach with a significant survey of important gospel musicians — John P. Kee, Richard Smallwood, Mighty Clouds of Joy — and unconventional storytellers such as comedian Reggie Watts and cabaret provocateur Meow Meow.
Artists at Duke Performances commonly use genres as starting points for exemplary personal visions, so our general headings contain worlds of diversity. Our 2012/13 dance offerings include both the thrilling tap of Savion Glover and the Indian classical dance of Pandit Birju Maharaj. Our theater offerings make room for the raw monologues of Mike Daisey as well as the interdisciplinary poise of Meredith Monk. Our gospel, country, and blues series spans zydeco and Portuguese fado, while our jazz series accommodates both seasoned classicists and radical modernists. We find solidarity with these artists in their treatment of genre as a compass useful for orientation on the complex terrain of the performing arts rather than as a well trod path.
