The Jazz Continuum Brings Dance To The Church

In his brief remarks before the June 12th dance performance at The Church in Sag Harbor, co-founder Eric Fischl spoke of what he had set out for the space to be, and how the dancers and musicians present had imbued the space with the “palpable experience of creative energy on a daily basis” as he had hoped.

Sun had broken through the clouds that afternoon, and the audience spread out down and upstairs in the large main space. A keyboard sat atop a grand piano and DJ equipment was laid out on a nearby table. On each side of the stage area, colorful canvases hanging had footprints and steps marked out in paint.

The event was a work in progress performance of The Church’s current artist in resident LaTasha Barnes, and her dance piece The Jazz Continuum. The piece, which was supported and presented by Guggenheim Works & Process and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2021, is an homage to Black American dance and its history and Barnes, three other dancers, two musicians, and a vocalist had been spending a week at The Church working it out. The Jazz Continuum is new every time its performed: whether at the Guggenheim, in Sag Harbor, or at the Joyce Theatre, where it’ll be premiered in the fall, it’s always evolving. On Friday, June 10, The Church hosted an open rehearsal which had the same spirit of joy, exuberance, and playfulness paired with technical skill as Sunday night’s performance.

The Jazz Continuum is a work that seeks to celebrate, clarify, and deepen performance of styles of Black American dance — jazz, swing, house, hip hop, waacking, voguing, other street and club styles. The Jazz Continuum’s artistic director LaTasha Barnes, a celebrated dancer and choreographer, is also deeply involved in studying the cultural traditions of Black American dance. She got a master’s degree from New York University in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies and at times when addressing the crowd utilized anthropological terminology. Barnes spoke of striving for authentic Black dance, because so often Black cultural production has been, and continues to be, appropriated or altered, its power disregarded. In her introduction, Barnes paid homage to ancestors and elders, and the work transverses time periods.

The performance itself consisted of excerpts and sections of the work. The dancers and musicians were not just in sync, but seemed connected. Laughter punctuated their movements and that they were enjoying themselves was obvious. For all the technical polish, it felt like they were jamming, with creative energy and playfulness passing between each dancer, the keyboardist, the DJ, and the vocalist. The musicians even joined in on the dancing at the end.

Different dance traditions flowed into each other — from the Charleston to voguing to breakdancing. Each dancer had their own style and specialty, but were choreography chameleons at the same time. The four intergenerational dancers often used their own bodies for percussion, clapping and stomping in time. They’d pair off, solo, get back all together. The four of them made an intimate group.

Sonically, it was just as much of a mix. Beehoven’s “Für Elise” moved into Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” which became Prince’s “Kiss.” There was piano, plus keyboard, plus electronic samples and mixing.

After a break, Barnes told the crowd that over their time together, the keyboardist had composed short arrangements for each collaborator. These were manifestations of their movements. He played the sonic meditations of the dancers’ personalities as they moved to them, reflecting and refracting the patterns at work. Then the musicians got theirs, too, and finally the keyboardist played an improvisation about himself.

They finished out the performance by dancing all together, all seven of them moving and grooving to the music.

This Thursday, June 16, at 6 p.m., The Church will host a “Behind The Work” conversation with Barnes and other members of the project moderated by The Jazz Continuum’s costume director, Mary Jane Marcasiano. “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. Tickets are $15. The Church is at 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor. For information, visit thechurchsagharbor.org.