Showing posts with label Jazz Tap Ensemble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jazz Tap Ensemble. Show all posts

Jul 23, 2012

DanceMotion USA 2012 by the Numbers

4 companies
41 artists

14 countries
18 U.S. embassies & consulates
33 cities
85 days
36 performances
118 exchange & education activities
460 books & DVDs distributed to 20 libraries
12,000+ web site visitors
23,156 audience members & participants
1,000,000+ media impressions


From March through June of 2012, four American dance companies embarked on journeys across the globe. As part of the second installment of DanceMotion USAsm, dancers from Los Angeles’ Jazz Tap Ensemble, Philadelphia’s Rennie Harris Puremovement, New York City’s Seán Curran Company and Boise, Idaho’s Trey McIntyre Project set out as artist diplomats – to share and exchange their work as American dancers with artists, students, and audiences from cultures and backgrounds entirely different from their own.

The power of these dancers’ travels has been seen in the stories told in this blog - through photos, videos, and anecdotes of their time abroad. As the program continues, the reports speak volumes about dance’s incredible ability to connect people across cultures, borders, and boundaries. These numbers only touch the surface in describing the connections made with audience members, workshop participants, fellow artists, and students – and the stories born from those experiences.

(c US Embassy Ashgabat)
Seán Curran Company after a workshop in Turkmenistan

 
Jazz Tap Ensemble with new friends in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

 
 Rennie Harris Puremovement after a workshop at the
Rabbea Murkus Dance Studio in Kfar Yassif, Israel

 
 Trey McIntyre Project studying Tai Chi in Guangzhou, China


DanceMotion USA would like to thank everyone involved in its second year of tours for their fearless dedication to connecting Americans to the rest of the world through dance. Because of your work, the world is shrinking geographically and expanding creatively, growing in its capacities for global collaboration, innovation, and peace-building.

Stay tuned for more details and information on the DanceMotion USA program over the next week!


Jul 4, 2012

JTE, Siyayeh and Eyasah in Bulawayo having funnnnnnn!!!!

AFTER THE DANCE....
Jazz Tap Ensemble with Siyayeh and Eyasah at the Bulawayo Theatre, 
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe after their performance.. Thursday, April 26, 2012

Jun 9, 2012

No Barriers! Jazz Tap Ensemble

Here is a favorite photo of mine. Taken after JTE concert in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
 April 27, 2012

Pictured are the JTE musicians along with a local group of Jazz Singers (and on the left, an embassy staffer) who had enjoyed our performance (enough so that they almost pulled Doug, our pianist, off the stage when offering their congratulations)!  This pic shows the nature of our tour in nutshell, the universal nature of this music and how barriers do not exist between people who are listening.

Jerry Kalaf , Music Director/Drummer - Jazz Tap Ensemble

Jammin' in Mozambique

April 17, 2012 in a suburb of Maputo, Mozambique.

The JTE band was invited to sit in at this jam session. Afterwards, Stewart Sukuma, one of the most famous Mozambican performers (standing in center) came and sang and then invited all of us to attend his band's rehearsal later in the week as they prepared for their own tour, which was a highlight of the trip.
Doug Walter, Pianist/Saxophonist - Jazz Tap Ensemble

Jazz Tap Ensemble - Bass Players


These are the three Congolese bassists that played with the "Kinshasa All Stars" at the Halle De La Gombe. I love these guys!  These three bassists epitomized the profound musicality, voracious appetite for learning, and generosity of spirit we experienced from all the musicians we met on our tour of Africa. Their  music teacher, Gabriel WADIGESILA is hoping to create a “Bass Day” in Kinshasa.
David Dunaway - Bass Player/Jazz Tap Ensemble



Apr 22, 2012

On Safari in South Africa!

 Everyone is curious - even the Zebra!
 The Elephant is coming....
...and the Kudu is keeping watch
Kruger National Park

Apr 21, 2012

The Word Is Out!

Poster Announcing Jazz Tap Ensemble Concert
at Teatro Avenida, Maputo, Mozambique


Apr 18, 2012

Photo Time!

Local professional dancers and young student dancers
after the workshop at Alto Mae Casa de Cultura.  "It was great fun!"
Getting ready for the first workshop
Alto Mae Casa de Cultura 
Maputo, Mozambique

Apr 17, 2012

We made the cut!

JTE Artistic Director, Lynn Dally with young students
from the National Dance School
Maputo, Mozambique

Apr 16, 2012

The Road From Kinshasa



Driving to Kinshasa airport to depart for Mozambique. 
We will miss our new made friends in Congo, but wait, will we make the flight !!!

Apr 15, 2012

Post Performance Joy

Jazz Tap Ensemble, 15 musicians and 25 dancers from local dance companies performed on stage together at Hall de la Gombe at the Institute Francais, Kinshasa, Congo.

Brazzeville, Congo

View from my hotel room.  A look across the Congo River to Brazzeville, Congo.  
We were not able to visit this country but it offered a great view from a room.  Lasting memories of the Congo.


Congolese dancers "doin' the shim sham!"  Young Congolese dancer improvising during the shim sham on stage at Hall de la Gombe, in finale of Jazz Tap Ensemble performance, Kinshasa, Congo.

Apr 14, 2012

The long and winding road... or is this a river!



On the road to see the Bonobos Monkeys  "Hendrix are we in an amphibious vehicle?"

Got Milk?

Bonobos Monkeys
This mother Bonobos is pushing a plastic bottle through the fence so the caregiver can replenish it with soy milk to feed her baby.  This is a very smart species of monkey known for, "making love, not war."  They use sex to ease social tension and end disputes. (Help make the world a better place....)  This monkey species is found only in the interior of the DR Congo.  The ride along the "long and winding road" was worth it!

Apr 13, 2012

Ladies In The House

The ladies give it flair!  Workshop continues with each JTE dancer teaching a group of dancers a segment of the Shim Sham.  They then come together to complete the choreography at the end of the workshops and perform on stage at Hall de la Gombe.

Apr 12, 2012

And then there was MUSIC!!!

The word is out and we know there cannot be dance without music!  The dance workshop was enhanced by a group of 15 musicians who came to listen, learn and make music.  Our music Director, Jerry Kalaf was in heaven, and boy did he do a great job... When the workshops were over (3 days), we had a "jazz orchestra" of 18 musicians (15 Congolese musicians) accompanying the 25 Congolese dancers that performed at 
Hall de la Gombe with Jazz Tap  Ensemble!  It was just plain awesome!
Playing the Club Scene 
The Black & White Club -- Kinshasa, Congo
JTE Musicians Doug Walter, David Dunaway & Jerry Kalaf

Apr 11, 2012

cars, cars, and more cars....

A road in Kinshasa. Traffic jams are the same no matter what country you are in...