Not only do I have a lot of opportunities for professional development, but it is just another way I'm aware of different opportunities to see art in the area.
For example, no less than 5 of the artists on our roster participated in the closing weekend of the Intersections Festival, at the Atlas Performing arts Center. These included Adventure Theatre (with their production of Mirandy & Brother Wind, the Spilling Ink Project, Step Afrika & Urban Artistry.
That being said, the performance I could afford to catch, both monetarily and temporally, was Urban Artistry, performing with Sylvia Soumah's company, Coyaba Dance's Youth Ensemble, and the Goot Foot Dance Company as well.
Small world just keeps getting smaller...Mama Soumah has actually been a guest choreographer at the school I teach, and she's back this year. Not only that, but one of the guests, who narrated the collaborative concert, is one of my favorite house DJ's, Sam "The Man" Burns (who will be spinning at U Hall on my 30th birthday this Friday!!).
At one point, at the top of Urban Artistry's piece towards the end, they kicked off with a slideshow homage of urban dance music dj's and venues, as well as other world and cultural dances from African to Tap, overlaid with the My House vocal.
Accompanied by my buddy Eamonn, and his girlfriend/my student, Caroline, it was a great to start off a day that would end up dancing the night away at day 2 of Spring Massive, at Bourbon Street Live in Baltimore.
Anyway, it was just very reaffirming on one hand, to see a culture that I very much identify with continue to grow in legitimacy and visibility. However, it was slightly discouraging that more people weren't there, but that's a topic for another day (trying to tell that Arts Management lens to stop wondering about marketing, seating optimization, the audience for dance in DC, etc).
Regardless, it was the execution of a wonderful event, featuring collaboration (which needs to continue to happen, not just within the Dance community, but across all the performing arts communities in the area), at a great festival that really shows DC is a place to be for arts and culture, for both audience members and professional artists.
- J Street Jr
Related Links
- Urban Artistry - Facebook | Twitter
- Intersections: A New America Arts Festival - Facebook | Twitter
- Atlas Performing Arts Center - Facebook | Twitter
- Class Acts Arts - Facebook | Twitter
- Adventure Theatre - Facebook Group | Facebook Page | Twitter
- Coyaba Dance Theater - Facebook | Youth Ensemble Facebook
- Step Afrika - Facebook | Twitter
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