Chorégraphie Antique Performs at Inauguration Day Gala

Release date: January 20, 2009 |

Goucher College’s dance history ensemble, Chorégraphie Antique, has been invited to perform during the celebrations surrounding President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009.

Inauguration Day festivities include the swearing-in ceremony, the Inauguration Parade, congressional receptions, conferences, and official and unofficial balls and galas.

Chorégraphie Antique will be the opening performers at the “We the People” Presidential Inauguration Gala-Ball, held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The ensemble will perform dances from the American Revolutionary period before more than 1,000 guests—including celebrities, ambassadors, and other VIPs.

This gala was organized by a group of volunteers who worked as part of the grassroots movement supporting the Obama/Biden presidential campaign to celebrate a historic moment in U.S. history and to recognize the hard work and dedication of so many volunteers nationwide.

Now in its 19th year, Chorégraphie Antique was founded by Goucher professor and noted dance historian Chrystelle Trump Bond, who painstakingly reconstructs many of the dances from original documents and sheet music. Always striving to link the traditional and the contemporary, the ensemble’s eclectic repertoire features everything from baroque court dances to hip-hop moves.

Over the years, Chorégraphie Antique has performed at many notable venues, including the Smithsonian Institution, Colonial Williamsburg, the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Society of Dance History Scholars Annual International Conference in Limerick, Ireland.