March 18-20

Two of Nashville’s most iconic artists join forces in DECLARATION, a powerful new dance-theater work from New Dialect and poet Ciona Rouse that investigates the power of the American Declaration of Independence and reimagines it as a living document. Choreographer Banning Bouldin leads a collective of talented dancers alongside original writings from Rouse to transform the historic text through erasure poetry, contemporary choreography, and original music, uncovering new possibilities within its language. With dancers embodying the tensions between freedom, belonging, and civic participation, DECLARATION asks audiences to consider whose voices have shaped our shared story, and whose voices are still waiting to be heard.

Rouse’s live spoken-word score, paired with Bouldin’s dynamic movement vocabulary, reveals the power of revision — not as a rejection of history, but as an invitation to engage with it anew. Through virtuosic dance, poetry, and theatrical invention, DECLARATION offers a stirring reflection on the ongoing work of creating a more expansive vision of freedom.