Global Rhythms: Of Love presented by Big Red Dance Project

Big Red Dance Project brings Of Love to the North Carolina Museum of Art on Saturday, October 17, at 1 PM. The performance takes place in the East Building, Level B, and it's free for general admission.

Of Love is a modern dance piece built around five 18th-century Italian vocal arias, each one dealing with love in a different form. Those arias are woven into a series of duets and solos that run the gamut from tender and flirtatious to heartbroken and vengeful. It's a modern interpretation of old material, so the music comes from the 1700s but the movement is contemporary.

That's also a good place to start on the company itself. Big Red Dance Project is a collective founded in October 2017 by artistic director Gerri Houlihan, and one of its main goals is to expand the notion of who can dance today. The company is grounded in classical modern dance traditions, but it pushes back on the stereotype that modern dancers have to be young, thin, and competitive. Its members range in age from 35 to over 70, and the collective includes a visual artist, a dance filmmaker, dance educators, and medical personnel. Seeing that range on stage is part of what the company is about.

After the performance, there's a conversation with artistic director Gerri Houlihan, outreach coordinator Susan Hartley, and the dancers, so you can hear more about the piece and the collective from the people who put it together. The show starts at 1 PM on Saturday, October 17, in the East Building, Level B, and general admission is free.