“Flash: A New Choreography” — a poetic and multidisciplinary attempt to speak of painful memories, by Granada Artist-in-Residence Qudus Onikeku — runs from Thursday, March 7, to Sunday, March 17, in the Main Theatre of Wright Hall at UC Davis.

Tickets are $17-$19 for general seating and $12-$14 for children and seniors. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, March 7-9, 14-16, and 2 p.m. Sundays, March 10 and 17. For tickets, call 530-754-2787 or visit http://tickets.mondaviarts.org.

Onikeku is a pre-eminent performance artist known for his Yoruba culture-based choreography that fuses together movement philosophies of hip-hop, capoeira and Nigerian masquerade tradition.

Like all of Onikeku’s work, “Flash” derives from the violent energy he experienced growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. Survival of the fittest was the rule there as he says it is in every society.

Onikeku has designed all scenic elements to seamlessly support and enhance the stories he presents. The minimalist set is a terrain of black soil, wattles and dark burlap. The haunting music, a cappella songs and unusual soundscape elements are his design as well.

Onikeku’s performers, both graduate and undergraduate students, were cast during a weeklong master class. Their talents and sensitivities helped him to flesh out his vision. They are given creative freedom so that no two performances are ever exactly the same, a news release said.

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Qudus Onikeku, UC Davis Granada Artist-in-Residence, will debut his production of “Flash” March 7 at UC Davis’ Wright Hall. Antoine Tempe/Courtesy photo

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