By its nature, movement happens in the now. But it can spring from the then – cultural traditions, histories, memories. That's what powers the work of Charles O. Anderson, head of the UT Department of Theatre & Dance dance program and founder of dance theatre X. He may derive steps and gestures from African American experiences and culture – lynchings and civil rights marches, expressions of faith and resistance – as in his masterwork (Re)Current Unrest, or employ ceremonial movements of grief and honor, as in the profoundly moving Idobálè, a memorial tribute to Haruka Weiser, the dance major slain on campus in 2016. In whatever he does, Anderson shows himself a keeper of what mattered, releasing it kinetically so we remember it and see it matters still.
