February 27, 2006

NORMAN – World-renowned dancer and choreographer Charles “Chuck” Davis will visit the University of Oklahoma on Thursday, March 2, for two dance classes co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences FOCAS* (Friends Of the College of Arts and Sciences) Lecture Series and the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts School of Dance.

A free, public dance class, offered to all levels of dancers, will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Meacham Auditorium of Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave, Norman.  Additional dance space will be available for this class in the second-floor dance studio of the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, 560 Parrington Oval.  Individuals interested in taking the class can call the African and African-American Studies program at (405) 325-2327.  Visitors can observe in the union’s Meacham Auditorium. 

A master dance class, reserved for AFAM and dance majors, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium, with additional space available in room 305 of the Rupel J. Jones Fine Arts Center, 563 Elm Ave.  Dance majors wishing to participate in the master dance class must sign up through the offices of AFAM Studies or the School of Dance at (405) 325-4051. 

Davis, founder and director of the African American Dance Ensemble, is a native of Raleigh, N.C.  He received his doctoral degree from Howard University and began his professional dance career in New York City in 1959 as a member of the Klara Harrington Dance Company.

From 1959 to 1968, Davis danced professionally with a number of modern, jazz, Afro-Cuban and African companies, including the Olatunji Dance Company, Eleo Pomare Dance Company and Bernice Johnson Dance Company.  In 1977, he fulfilled his dream to study dance in Africa and returns each year to further his studies.

In 1968, Davis founded the Chuck Davis Dance Company, from which the African American Dance Ensemble arose in 1984.  The ensemble, which has become one of the premiere dance companies of its kind touring the nation today, travels around the nation as artists-in-residence, passing on the legacy of African dance.

For more information on the dance classes or accommodations on the basis of disability, contact Melanie Bratcher in the AFAM Department at (405) 366-8148 or meb@ou.edu.  For additional information on the African American Dance Ensemble, visit their Web site at http://users.vnet.net/aade/main.html.