Wednesday, August 2 • 8:15 p.m.
Amphitheater

GARTH FAGAN*  
Founder/Artistic Director 

PRINCIPAL DANCERS 
NORWOOD PENNEWELL*
NATALIE ROGERS-CROPPER*
STEVE HUMPHREY*  
GABRIELLE SAMUEL
SABRINA CMELAK 

DANCERS 
JOHN CRIM
DARIA CLARKE
DESTINY FELDER
ETHAN BECKWITH-COHEN  
IRA LINDSAY III
NATHAN E. MCNATT, JR.
KIARA JOLIÉ HAYWOOD 

GUEST DANCER 
WYNTON RICE 
 

*Bessie Award Winners 

Programs and casting subject to change. 

ALL CHOREOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT GARTH FAGAN 

The taking of photographs/videotaping during the performance is strictly prohibited. 

These performances of Garth Fagan Dance are supported, in part, by the Anne Hayden McQuay Arts and Cultural Fund, the Arts For Tomorrow Fund, the Rochester Community Area Foundation, and the Farash Foundation.  

Garth Fagan Dance programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Prelude (1981/1983)* 
“Discipline is Freedom”

Choreography: Garth Fagan 
Music: Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) and Max Roach 
Original Lighting Design: C.T. Oakes 
Costumes: Amanda Horne 

Gabrielle Samuel, Sabrina Cmelak, John Crim, Daria Clarke, Ira Lindsay III, Destiny Felder, Ethan Beckwith-Cohen, Nathan E. McNatt, Jr., Kiara Jolié Haywood, Wynton Rice 

Rite of Spring (work-in-progress) 

Choreography: Norwood Pennewell 
Music: Igor Stravinsky 
Lighting Designer: Lutin Tanner 

John Crim, Gabrielle Samuel, Sabrina Cmelak & Company  

Life Receding (2023)

Choreography: Natalie Rogers-Cropper 
 Music: DJ Leo Large, Ed Nabb and Brian Hand, and Laventille Rhythm Sections 
Spoken Word: Derek Walkott from “Omeros” 
Lighting Design: Lutin Tanner  
Costumes: Natalie Rogers-Cropper  

The Process, The Proof
Nathan E. McNatt, Jr., Kiara Jolié Haywood  

Thudding Metre
Daria Clarke, Destiny Felder, Ethan Beckwith-Cohen  

Crab Wrestlers
Ira Lindsay III, Nathan E. McNatt, Jr., Kiara Jolié Haywood, Destiny Felder, Daria Clarke, Ethan Beckwith-Cohen  

Contact Fours (2022)

Choreography: Norwood Pennewell 
Music: Mary Cary, DJ-9, and Masters of Groove 
Original Lighting Design: Lutin Tanner 
Costumes: Wendell C. Carmichael 

Gabrielle Samuel, Sabrina Cmelak, John Crim, Ira Lindsay III,  

One Love (2002) 
Excerpt from Translation/Transition 

Choreography: Garth Fagan 
Music: Jazz Jamaica All Stars 
Original Lighting Design: C.T. Oakes 
Costumes: Mary Nemecek Peterson  

Wynton Rice, Ira Lindsay III & Company 

Garth Fagan Dance is an internationally acclaimed American dance company rooted in African traditions and the black dance vocabulary Fagin Technique™. Celebrating more than 50 years since its founding, the company has been led by a 20th century dance treasure and the longest running Black Choreographer on Broadway, Founder and Artistic Director Garth Fagan. Fueled by one of his life contributions, his award-winning work helping create Disney’s The Lion King on stage, 100 million + audience members have moved with his vision of cultural unity through movement. 

One of the few Black-created and led cultural organizations to have such a world impact while having a base in Rochester, NY, Garth Fagan Dance has a reputation for responsive contribution, builds on a platform of social justice, creative leadership in troubling times, and innovation that utilizes community engagement and unique partnerships to addresses issues facing our country, its arts and culture, and the people that need them both.  

Garth Fagan Dance has performed in 600 cities, 24 countries and 6 continents for thousands of global citizens since 1970. Throughout over five decades of creating award-winning pieces, GFD has received 5 NYC ”Bessie Awards” and is currently nominated for a 2023 NYC "Bessie Award" for Outstanding Revival of Prelude (1981/1983), performed at the Joyce Theater, November 2022. Additionally, the company has been inducted into the "Archives of the Library of Congress", which should be available to the public within two years. 

Garth Fagan - Founder & Artistic Director

Norwood Pennewell - Rehearsal Director & Associate Choreographer

Natalie Rogers-Cropper - Interim Executive Director, School Director, & Assistant Rehearsal Director

Lutin Tanner - Lighting Designer, Production Advisor

Alec Shiman - Executive Assistant

Zach Werner - Production Manager

Garth Fagan - Founder / President

Carvin Eison -  Chairman 

Abbey Germano - Treasurer

Christopher E. Blank

Dr. Ian Wilson

Paula Summit

Anne Hayden McQuay Arts and Cultural Fund

Arts For Tomorrow Fund

City of Rochester, NY

County of Monroe, NY 

ESL 

Farash Foundation 

National Endowment for the Arts 

New York State Council on the Arts 

New York State Legislature 

Office of the Governor 

Rochester Community Area Foundation