Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green

CCB Embraces Gullah Culture with William Starrett’s Original Repertoire Off the Wall and Onto the Stage:  Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green!
Critics have acclaimed this production to be the greatest addition to Columbia City Ballet’s repertoire. The ballet, conceived and choreographed by Starrett, was created in 2005 as a tribute to the world-renowned award-winning artist Jonathan Green, known for his vibrantly colorful art depicting Gullah life in South Carolina’s Lowcountry coast. When describing the inspiration for his art, Green says, “While the southern soul is often portrayed as angst or peace, the southern spirit is filled with creative healing energy, always evolving and growing in its creativity and adaptability. While there are pains in life and survival, I view the South today as appropriating the best of its cross-cultural heritage constructing a new sense of place and an enhanced sense of purpose.”
About the Artist – Jonathan Green, Painter and Printmaker
Bold patterns and vivid solids in red, yellow or green play in a world of dance halls, beaches, schoolrooms, and churches. Jonathan Green’s vibrantly colorful art is the quintessential rendering of Gullah life on South Carolina’s Lowcountry coast. Green learned the Gullah dialect and culture as a child growing up in the home of his maternal grandmother in the 1960’s. As the first known artist of Gullah heritage to receive formal training at a professional art school, the Art Institute of Chicago, Green has created more than 1,700 works of art that capture in one way or another the unique African-American culture he considers his own. While this body of work surely represents the most ambitious artistic expression of the Sea Island culture ever successfully undertaken, to Jonathan, recalling on canvas the feel, texture, and color of a rapidly disappearing way of life is simply a labor of love – with just a hint of social responsibility. “I know I can’t save a whole culture,” he says with a sigh, “but I can help create greater awareness.”
Limited Edition Art Prints by Jonathan Green

The artist has generously donated a series of four original limited edition silkscreen prints in support of Columbia City Ballet! Each print measures 31 3/8 x 25 5/8. The prints in our collection of Jonathan Green’s art are signed and numbered by the artist. Of each print in the series, only 75 have been printed, signed and numbered. Individual prints are available starting at $2,500 unframed. For purchase information, please contact the CCB Office at 803.799.7605.
Print Signing and Lecture
March 6th at 6:30pm, Koger Center Large Rehearsal Room

Columbia City Ballet invites you and other elite guests as Jonathan Green joins Executive and Artistic Director William Starrett for an intimate conversation about the creation of Off the Wall and Onto the Stage:  Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green. Patrons attending this exclusive event will also receive a vintage Off The Wall poster available to be autographed by Green and Starrett for a nominal fee. Attendance is limited, so make your reservation when they go on-sale February 6, 2021!
Performances
Columbia – Koger Center for the Arts
1051 Greene Street I Columbia, SC 29201
Friday, March 5th at 7:30pm and Saturday, March 6th at 3pm and 7:30pm

Tickets – Purchase tickets online, call the Box Office at 803.251.2222 Tuesday-Thursday from 10am-3pm and one hour before performance time, or visit the Box Office in-person Tuesday-Thursday 10am-3pm and one hour before performance time.

Seating – There are strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place to protect our patrons, dancers, staff, and volunteers. Seating will be socially-distanced. Every other row in the theater will be empty and seating is ONLY sold in pairs. There will be three empty seats between each pair of occupied seats.

To keep you safe, the Koger Center for the Arts has instituted the following rules:

The lobby will only open 45 minutes before the event.
To maintain social-distancing we have spread out the arrival of patrons. Please arrive:

30 minutes prior to curtain for Grand Tier or Balcony seating.
15 minutes prior to curtain for Orchestra level seating.

Patrons will be seated immediately upon entering the lobby.

NOTE:  Tickets are grouped for 2 people only.
Your ticket indicates your seat row and number and once inside the auditorium guests must stay in their assigned row and seat.
Face coverings Must Be Worn inside the Koger Center at all times.
No food or beverages allowed inside the Koger Center except bottled water.
Please do not attend if in the 14 days prior to the event you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, have had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. In all of these cases, tickets are fully refundable, right up until show time. Call 803.777.5112.