PlayhouseSquare Presents Free Dance and Jazz Performances 5/28, 5/29

The PlayhouseSquare Community Engagement & Education Department is presenting free performances by artists participating in its LAUNCH artists residency program: Why I Had to Dance on May 28 and 29 and Bobby Selvaggio's "Hendectet Jazz Collective" on June 5. The LAUNCH program is designed to promote invention and innovation in performance and to foster new relationships between Northeast Ohio artists and the public.

Why I Had to Dance
Barrier-breaking poet/playwright Ntozake Shange has given dance artist Dianne McIntyre a task - to develop Shange's new "choreopoem,"Why I Had to Dance, into a compelling dance-theater work.

Audiences will have the first glimpse of the piece (in preview) performed by six local dancers on May 28 and 29 at 8 p.m. in the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre in the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare (1375 Euclid Ave.). The sound design is by Jim Swonger and the lighting is by Trad A Burns. Contributing artists for Why I Had to Dance include Mamie Johnson, Kyle Primous and Adenike Sharpley. The dancers are Dezare Foster, ELisa Hanna, Katrice Headd, Chatiera Ray, Kevin Marr II and Darnell Weaver.
Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist and playwright, is best known for her Obie award winning play for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. This seminal work had a major impact internationally on theater, women's studies and African American culture, and will be revived on Broadway this fall.

Dianne McIntyre, awarding-winning choreographer, has frequently collaborated with Ms. Shange. A Cleveland resident, she creates work for concert dance, theater and film, including Beloved, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Disney. Ms. McIntyre is a Creative Workforce Fellow. The Creative Workforce Fellowship is a program of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, generously funded by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Bobby Selvaggio's "Hendectet Jazz Collective"
Bobby Selvaggio's "Hendectet Jazz Collective" is an 11-piece Jazz chamber ensemble. During the course of their three-day residency at PlayhouseSquare, they will work on the creation of four new compositions to be presented in concert on June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre in the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare. The public is welcome to participate in discussions about the creative process and composition, the rehearsal process and improvisation with the group from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 4, and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on June 5. All discussions will take place in the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre in the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare.

Members of the ensemble include Chris Burge, Tony Spicer, Brad Wagner, Ian Indorf, Mark Russo, BJ Bishop, Sam Blakeslee, Matt Charboneau, Chris Baker and Theron Brown.

Bobby Selvaggio is one of the leading voices on alto sax in today's Jazz scene. Bobby plays alto and soprano sax, alto clarinet, and flute; is a bandleader of multiple projects, a composer and arranger, a Jazz clinician; and has a personal teaching studio. After living in New York City for four years, gigging all over the city at such places as the Vanguard and Birdland, and getting a Masters in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music, Bobby moved back to Cleveland with his family and has recorded five CDs, booked gigs and tours with his various bands, is continually creating new musical projects, and is writing a book on Jazz Improvisation. Besides his busy music schedule, Bobby enjoys spending time with his wife Chelsea, son Julian, and cats Mingus and Maisy.

Free tickets for both Why I Had to Dance and Bobby Selvaggio's "Hendectet Jazz Collective" will be available beginning Friday, May 21 online at playhousesquare.org/launch or at The PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Ave.).

As a not-for-profit organization, PlayhouseSquare relies on charitable giving to present the LAUNCH program and similar experiences to the community. "Our donors and sponsors make it possible for us to provide this opportunity for local artists to focus on the development of a specific project and, when appropriate, to enable members of our community to engage with the project without a fee for admission," explained Colleen Porter, director of community engagement and education at PlayhouseSquare.

Artists selected for the LAUNCH program receive rent-free use of space in the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare, production subsidy and media relations and marketing support. Interested Northeast Ohio performance artists may download the LAUNCH application at playhousesquare.org/launch.

PlayhouseSquare understands its vital role as an educator in our community, and is committed to providing arts learning opportunities of the highest quality to enrich the lives of students, families, teachers and adults. PlayhouseSquare's Community Engagement & Education Department is unique in the performing arts industry for the variety of programs it offers, the partnerships it initiates and the access it provides students, educators and aspiring artists to performing arts professionals. Since its inception in 1998, the Community Engagement & Education Department has offered thousands of events, workshops, classes and more, most with minimal or no fees, to people of all ages from all areas of Northeast Ohio. The generous support of individual and corporate donors and foundations makes it all possible.

Need more Cleveland Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...