Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre closes it’s season with SUMMER SOLSTICE at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, June 6, 2025 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 5:00 pm. Please note EARLY Saturday performance time.
SUMMER SOLSTICE is an exciting and eclectic program of contemporary dance featuring two World Premiere pieces and the return of an audience and dancer favorite.
SUMMER SOLSTICE features the World Premiere of LET IT BE KNOWN, featuring poet Bruce E. Ford and the dancers of GHDT. Mr. Ford is a poet, actor, speaker, facilitator, and filmmaker. He is a rising public figure whose unique perspective, authenticity, and positive energy have earned him numerous speaking engagements. His character-building poetry program “Words in Motion” has been featured in many area schools throughout Indiana. He has also facilitated “Words in Motion” as a program for adults and corporations. Bruce has headlined his own one-man poetry performance, “The Audacity to Believe I am Free”, which reveals the many characters, adventures, and tales that have shaped his life.
When I first met Bruce, I knew immediately that I wanted to collaborate with him on a project. His infectious energy, talent, and passion immediately connected with me. In LET IT BE KNOWN, the dancers become the motion and passion of Mr. Ford’s, powerful poetry. It has been exciting and challenging for me to work in a new way as a choreographer without music, but with the cadence, rhythm, and power of spoken word. Audiences will be mesmerized by the combination of Mr. Ford’s poignant poetry paired with the incredible dancers of GHDT.
Following the premiere of LET IT BE KNOWN, GHDT will present another important and ground-breaking World Premiere, JOURNEY TO FREEDOM, featuring music of Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine. JOURNEY TO FREEDOM explores the psychological, emotional, and physical aspects of invasion, displacement, resilience, and freedom. GHDT has partnered with the Ukrainian Society of Indiana, the Polish Cultural Society of Indiana and the Latvian community of Indiana for the creation of this important and timely work of art. JOURNEY TO FREEDOM demonstrates the power of the arts to speak to important issues and provide healing through beauty.
Rounding off the program is the return of ALICE LITE, a one-act version of GHDT’s highly popular full-length production of ALICE AND HER BIZARRE ADVENTRUES IN WONDERLAND. In this quirky and bizarre production, the well-known story of Alice, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, The Queen, The Caterpillar, and all the other interesting characters, take a Gothic turn to make the already unique story even more bizarre.
