Denver audiences have evolved; Newman Center’s new season is proof

Things were different two decades ago when the Newman Center first opened and began presenting what we comfortably called back then “fine art.” The venue quickly built a reputation for vintage European classical music, mixed with American jazz and dance from the 20th century.

There were always exceptions on the annual Newman Center Presents season — it was never boring — but the community came to think of it as a place to see artistic standard bearers, acts that needed no introduction, like the Martha Graham Dance Company, or the London Symphony Chorus, or Dizzie Gillespie’s All-Star Big Band.

This year’s season, which is particularly tantalizing, shows how far the venue has come — and perhaps how far the tastes of Denver audiences have evolved and opened up. There are only a few acts on the schedule that most people here probably have heard of; instead, it’s a global fest of performers across art forms, geography and purpose.

It’s a challenging lineup, but also irresistible, starting Sept. 22 with season opener, Cécile McLorin Salvant, whose jazz vocalist repertoire includes songs in French, English and Haitian Kreyòl.

There are also acts, such as Vieux Farka Touré, a musician from Mali, who is known as “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” (on April 11); Music From The Sole, an ensemble that combines music and dance influenced by Afro-Brazilian, jazz, soul, house and Afro-Cuban styles (Jan. 25); and Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion (March 18), whose bandleader expands traditions from his native India.

“I think the programming has evolved very naturally over the  20-plus years to reflect the society that we live in, and the very real conversations that are happening on- and off-stage,” said executive director Aisha Ahmad-Post, who curated the season.

For example, when Newman Center Presents began its work as part of the University of Denver, there were few female classical composers in the spotlight and few living composers that classical fans would show up for. This year, a season highlight is the appearance of Caroline Shaw, who is both alive and female and a top name in the classical composing business. She performs Nov. 9 with songwriter and storyteller Gabriel Kahane.

The cultural conversation has also become more inclusive, as the idea of “fine art” has grown to include classical practices from places beyond the U.S. and Europe.

That transition will be on display at Newman, too. There is one bedrock New York-based dance troupe on the schedule, the Limón Dance Company (Feb. 18), which has been at the vanguard of modern movement since it was founded by Jose Limón and Doris Humphrey in 1946.

But there is also Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, which has been developing its own style in Asia for the past 50 years (Nov. 23-24). Cloud Gate integrates elements of Chinese opera and tai chi into its modern dance using performers who learned their craft globally, including in the U.S.

“Cloud Gate is, interestingly, an extension of American contemporary dance,” said Ahmad-Post. “A lot of the dancers actually trained at Graham.”

Ahmad-Post builds the season by doing a lot of research, traveling to conferences, concerts and events internationally and identifying attractions she thinks people will like, and then doing the hard part of coordinating the schedules of popular performers, who tour relentlessly, with the open slots on the Newman Center stages.

She also has in mind, always, the center’s education mission. While its fare is a benefit for local audiences, the venue, at its core, is meant to serve   students in DU’s art programs.

Exposure to world-class performers is a must these days for colleges who want to attract and train the next generation of artists, and Newman’s offerings allow that to happen right on campus. The theaters also serve as venues for recitals by students and faculty — DU presents a robust schedule of these performances every year (and they are often free to the public).

It also allows DU to fulfill an obligation to the local community as being a resource for top-notch culture. Newman boasts of welcoming over 130,000 people a year for nearly 500 presentations in its theaters.

The center has gone beyond those roles to become a crucial part of arts education in Denver Public Schools. Its Musical Explorers program brings musicians into classrooms exposing kids to global sounds. Newman also offers an arts-minded professional development program for teachers working with kids in K-12 schools, and hosts popular matinee performances where admission — and even transportation costs — are subsidized by  local donors, such as the Genesee Foundation and U.S. Bank.

“Every single thing that we offer through our K-12 education program is completely free,” said Ahmad-Post.

Of course, Ahmad-Post also understands that the Newman Center has an important role as a public entertainer — she is, ultimately, in show business — and so she programs with that in mind, as well, adding a few special events into the lineup.

This season, that comes in the form of Le Patin Libre, the Montreal-based dance company that came together around the talents of athletics-inspired ice dancers. That show will actually take place in the DU campus’  Magness Arena hockey rink on the afternoon of Feb. 22.