Dhaka, Bangladesh - Interview by Radio Today

BAM Executive producer, Joe Melillo, and DanceMotion USA(sm) Project director, Michael Blanco, continue their travels through South Asia.  In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Joe was interviewed by Radio Today, a local radio station with national reach (over 15 million listeners!) in Bangladesh. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Today)  The interview is scheduled to broadcast on July 4, 2012.

Meeting the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group in Manila, Philippines

After a day of travel, TMP arrived in Manila, Philippines last week to start our adventures with DanceMotion USAsm. We started the first day with Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group and spent about four hours learning traditional Filipino folkloric dances. It was tough! Many of the dances we learned were inspired by the Filipino hawk, which is a beautiful animal.

We got to see some traditional dance garments, which are stunning and the detail is exquisite. 

It was a lovely moment when we got to show them a segment from one of Trey's ballets, "A Day In the Life," with music from the Beatles. 

What a fantastic way to start out our tour in southeast Asia. We are all hoping we can remember the dances so that we can share them with our friends back in the United States!

You can see more photos at http://treymcintyre.tumblr.com.

Brett Perry

UBW in Venezuela's Boletín Estilo Baile

Venezuela's dance publication Estilo Baile recently featured an interview with Urban Bush Women choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. She talks about the history of the company and how it has evolved over the past 25 years, and reflects upon their experience in Venezuela as part of the DanceMotion USA tour ("What's beautiful here is that men dance!"). Each of the seven dancers also discusses her individual experiences and growth as a member of Urban Bush Women.

Click here to read the article (in Spanish)

The New York Times: Dance for Diplomacy

The New York Times featured an excellent piece on Dance Motion USA by Roslyn Sulcas this past weekend. She accompanied Evidence: A Dance Company on many of their activities in South Africa, and interviewed members of Urban Bush Women and ODC/Dance about their respective experiences in South America and Southeast Asia. Read the article online:

The Soft Steps of Diplomacy

Evidence in Africa

Arts Beat's Roslyn Sulcas chronicled Evidence, A Dance Company's travels in South Africa on The New York Times website:

Evidence in Africa: Dance in the Township of Joza
Evidence in Africa: How Do You Do What You Do?
Evidence in Africa: The Dancers’ Day Off

Evidence on NYTimes.com

The New York Times' cultural blog Arts Beat recently caught up with the members of Evidence, A Dance Company during the South Africa leg of their tour. The piece commends the innovation of DanceMotion USA, noting that it "is the first time in decades that dance has played a major role as an official instrument of cultural exchange." It continues with some background information on Evidence, plus a glimpse at the non-dance-related aspects of life on the road; laundry woes in Dakar, thriving nightlife in Johannesburg, plus roadside zebra, and a visit to the township of Joza.

Click here to read "Evidence in Africa: Dance Troupe as Ambassadors"