Black, Brown & Beige

Created as a 4-part series, these films explore the The Big Muddy Dance Company's original performance set to Duke Ellington's legendary jazz suite.

Duke Ellington wrote the suite for his first performance at Carnegie Hall in 1943. Each of the three movements represents a piece of Black History in the United States. It was his way of transforming attitudes about race, elevating American music, and challenging America to live up to its founding principles of freedom and equality for all. Audiences were unfortunately not ready for a jazz suite, and the performance was met with mixed reviews. Duke never performed the entire suite again.

Watch and see how The Big Muddy Dance Company united the talents of local St. Louis arts organizations to bring Duke Ellington's Black, Brown & Beige back to the stage.