Dizzy Feet Foundation (DFF), co-founded in 2010 by Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman, will again host their annual National Dance Day (NDD) at The Music Center in Los Angeles and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this Saturday July 29, 2017. BroadwayWorld and I had the chance to quiz Adam on the importance of dance for him, and for countless others.
The Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) hosted its Jubalee Gala July 21 at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, which included honoring The Chicago Community Trust and its President and CEO Terry Mazany with the JUBA! Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Cultural Community in Chicago. Past JUBA! Award recipient, the Honorable Mayor Rahm Emanuel, served as Honorary Chair. With nearly 600 people in attendance, CHRP raised $175,000, including a $75,000 leadership gift from guests Philip and Marsha Dowd, from a combination of ticket sales, sponsorships, contributions and a raffle. Following a preshow reception in CHRP's American Rhythm Center, guests gathered in the packed Studebaker Theater for the presentation of the JUBA! Award and the JUBA! Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance performance that highlighted CHRP's 27th annual Rhythm World summer festival. The concert featured Chicago Human Rhythm Project performing a world premiere by Artist In Residence Dani Borak and three classics by African-American choreographers Buster Brown, Lon Chaney and Harold 'Stumpy' Cromer; STOMP alumna and Broadway hoofer (Shuffle Along) Lisa LaTouche performing her masterpiece Love Me or Leave Me with Tre Dumas and Nico Rubio; STOMP cast members Ali Bradley and Jeremy Price; North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble; solo performances by Lee Howard and Jumaane Taylor; a trio performance by Star Dixon, Donnetta Jackson and Imania Fatima Detry; scholarship students from Tokyo directed by Yukiko Misumi; and more. A VIP champagne reception onstage with the artists followed the performance.
Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP), which creates community through American tap and contemporary percussive arts in world-class, innovative performance, education and outreach programs, hosts its 27th Jubalee Gala.
McAninch Arts Center (MAC) located at 425 Falwell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage hosts a Tickets On-Sale Party and Free Community Open House Saturday, Aug. 5, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
People's Light is delighted to announce the headliners for the upcoming world premiere of Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, slated to open the Theatre's season in October 2017. Emmy-nominated actor Dule Hill (The West Wing) will play Cole, and Broadway regular Daniel J. Watts will appear as Sammy Davis, Jr.
The Ford Theatres today announced a spectacular season for Summer 2017 at the fully transformed John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. The 2017 season will open today, July 15 with a performance by famed tap dancer and choreographer Savion Glover and runs through Monday, October 16.
The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre reopened today with a civic dedication ceremony, marking the completion of a multi-year construction project that has restored, upgraded and enhanced this iconic and historic venue on Cahuenga Boulevard East in the Hollywood Hills. Dancers and musicians from the troupe Viver Brasil, among the artists to be featured in the 2017 Ford summer season, led a celebratory procession to the venue's completely new stage, where LA County 3rd District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl cut a red ribbon to inaugurate an era of broadened programming, national artistic partnerships, and improved technical facilities and audience amenities. The latter includes the new Ford Terrace Cafe on the new Zev Yaroslavsky Terrace, "The Zev," which was dedicated today in honor of retired LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who championed the Ford's revitalization during his 20 years as 3rd District Supervisor.
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents AteNine in the Doris Duke Theatre, July 26-30. AteNine, formerly Ate9dANCEcOMPANY, is led by Artistic Director and choreographer Danielle Agami, named “choreography's It girl” by the LA Times. A former dancer and rehearsal director of the world-renowned Batsheva Dance Company, Agami draws from her background in Gaga movement practice to create bold, innovative work. The program will include two works: Exhibit b and excerpts from vickie. AteNine dancers move with an intense clarity praised as “odd, fleeting, and gorgeous, it left you wanting much, much more” (Janet Smith, The Georgia Straight).
Based in Israel, Roy Assaf Dance makes its U.S. debut with a program of clever and heartfelt works in the Doris Duke Theatre July 12-16. A rising choreographic star, Assaf has been commissioned by companies across the globe including Batsheva Dance Company, The Royal Swedish Ballet, National Dance Company Wales, and LA Dance Project. The program opens with Assaf's embracing duet Six Years Later which is praised for its "beauty, nuances, and intricate, astute movements" (Ora Brafman, Jerusalem Post), and closes with his powerful all-male trio The Hill, inspired by veterans' experiences and based on the Hebrew song "Givat Hatachmoshet".
STG's signature dance program, DANCE This brings together scores of teen and community performers from varying experiences to share their culture through the art of dance. Celebrating 19 years of collaboration, performers get the unique opportunity to work with each other and renowned international dance artists for an experience that makes lasting memories and creates community awareness and understanding.
Spoleto Festival USA has gone from last year's 40th anniversary geniality to its customary edginess, and Druid Theatre's WAITING FOR GODOT wonderfully keynotes that shift at Dock Street Theatre.
Celebrating the power of Jacob's Pillow's natural setting, internationally acclaimed dance company Pilobolus Dance Theater will premiere a new work commissioned specifically for the Pillow's iconic outdoor Inside/Out performance space, set against the Berkshire hills. The program featuring the world premiere and On the Nature of Things will kick off the Festival's 2017 free Inside/Out performance series with an extended three-day run, June 21-23.
ESPN's Monday Night Football will feature the return of its iconic anthem this fall when legendary country singer Hank Williams Jr. kicks off the weekly Monday primetime game by asking NFL fans: “Are You Ready for Some Football?”
“A prolific choreographer of skillfully constructed dances that respectfully mesh with music and striking visual design” (The New Yorker), Jessica Lang and her company return to Jacob's Pillow for the ensemble's first Ted Shawn Theatre engagement, July 5-9. In addition to a Pillow-commissioned world premiere work, the program includes Lang's Thousand Yard Stare, a dance embodying the incredible pride and honor as well as the searing loss experienced by military veterans. The program will also include the East Coast and company premiere of Lang's Lyric Pieces as well as Solo Bach, Sweet Silent Thought, and The Calling. This season, the Pillow has formed a partnership with the Tanglewood Music Center, whereby Tanglewood Fellows and alumni will be providing the music accompaniment for this engagement.
Astonishing tap artists from across the U.S. and abroad come together in a Jacob's Pillow-exclusive program curated and introduced by the "tireless ambassador of tap" Michelle Dorrance (The New York Times).
Known for its "cutting-edge contemporary work" (Jason Vondersmith, The Portland Tribune), NW Dance Project makes its Jacob's Pillow debut, June 28-July 2 in the Doris Duke Theatre. Based in Portland, Oregon and led by former Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal dancer Sarah Slipper, the company is composed of a cast of classically-trained, versatile contemporary dancers. The program includes works by a range of accomplished choreographers and rising talents: Post-Traumatic-Monster by Felix Landerer, choreographer in residence for Scapino Ballet in the Netherlands; At Some Hour You Return by former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer Ji?i Pokorný; Le Fil Rouge by 2011 Sadler's Wells Global Dance Contest winner and NW Dance Project resident choreographer Ihsan Rustem; and MemoryHouse by Artistic Director Sarah Slipper.
Broadway in the H.O.O.D is thrilled to announce Tony Award-winner, Savion Glover's return to The Smith Center for their first annual benefit concert, From Broadway With Love: Honoring The Shoulders We Stand On! This awesome evening of entertainment will feature some of the brightest entertainers from across the world that will come together and pay tribute to the greats who paved the way.
NJTV, New Jersey's public television network, will host its fourth major benefit event at the Stone House at Stirling Ridge in Warren, NJ on Friday, June 9 at 6:30pm.