3 Photos
Dancer and choreographer LaTasha Barnes presents her most recent project, The Jazz Continuum, at The Church. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Dancer and choreographer LaTasha Barnes presents her most recent project, The Jazz Continuum, at The Church. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Dancer and choreographer LaTasha Barnes presents her most recent project, The Jazz Continuum, at The Church. COURTESY THE ARTIST
The Church in Sag Harbor will host two events with Bessie Award Winner, dancer, choreographer, educator, and tradition-bearer of Black American social dance, LaTasha Barnes. Programmed as part of Barnes’ residency at The Church, both events will focus on the development of her most recent project, The Jazz Continuum, which will premiere at the Joyce Theatre in fall 2022.
The Jazz Continuum centers the prolific artistry of jazz music and dance as a cornerstone of Black American dance forms. Through this project, Barnes and her cast of masterful dancers and musicians embody, amplify, and showcase the power of jazz dance and Lindy Hop to their personal dance journeys and the art form as a global phenomenon. Barnes reaches back nearly 100 years, making the connection between the dances that sprang from America’s Black jazz music to today’s house and hip-hop dance vernacular. Each performer embodies their personal dance and music journeys, investigating the energetic and generative relationships within Jazz and Lindy Hop as they share their imaginings of its reapplication.
A preview performance of the project will take place at The Church on Friday, June 10, at 6 p.m.. On Thursday, June 16, at 6 p.m., The Church and Guild Hall Present “Behind the Work: The Jazz Continuum.” The program will focus on the development of The Jazz Continuum, and include a roundtable conversation with Barnes, collaborator Reyna Nunez and other members of the collective, and is moderated by the project’s costume director, Mary Jane Marcasiano. The Jazz Continuum was supported and presented by Guggenheim Works & Process and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2021.
Behind the Work is an ongoing series at Guild Hall that brings together performing arts collaborators for an open dialogue on the creative process and development of new works. This iteration of the series is presented with The Church as part of Guild Hall’s 2022 “Off-Site Season.” Behind the Work is co-produced with Mary Jane Marcasiano.
Tickets for either program are $15. To purchase, visit thechurchsagharbor.org. The Church is at 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor
Staff Writer on Jun 6, 2022