The Mother of Us All

Dance Music
for kora, laptop, soundtrack

“... laptop wizardry by Au Yong.” ~Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

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Description
The Mother of Us All is a dance-music-text work about contemporary Africa created by Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theatre. Composer Byron Au Yong collaborated on this project as part of the initiative Beyond Dance: Promoting Awareness and Mutual Understanding.

Creative Team
Donald Byrd, choreographer
Byron Au Yong, composer
Jack Mehler, set and lighting designer

Dancers
Michael Bagne
Kelly Ann Barton
Bonnie Boiter-Jolly
Ty Alexander Cheng
Kylie Lewallen
Vincent Lopez
Amber Nicole Mayberry
Tory Peil
Sarah Poppe
Meaghan Sanford

Musicians
Byron Au Yong, laptop
Kane Mathis, kora
Marsha Mutisi, voice

Details
Duration: 68 minutes
Presented by Spectrum Dance Theatre, in partnership with Seattle Theater Group
Premiered at The Moore Theatre in Seattle, March 2011

Press Quotes
“The kora is an old, old instrument, and Au Yong has it almost vanish within a river of electronic, industrial sonic artifact... The score is perfectly suited to what you see.”

Michael van Baker, SunBreak

“The air fills with musical fragments, ambient street sounds and a series of talking heads holding forth on the challenges facing Africa. The sound tableau, composed by Byron Au Yong, mixes recorded material with Kane Mathis performing live on the kora (West African harp).”

Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

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