Works & Process at Catskill Mountain Foundation: The Jazz Continuum

According to dance educator and dancer LaTasha Barnes, one of the greatest disparities of the present-day dance canon is the one that exists between the African American dancer and authentic jazz dance. Barnes argues that despite the foundational role of jazz dance as a source of globally celebrated popular Black dance forms, there is a lack of contextual and performative knowledge of jazz in the African American artist, which does a disservice to the expressive purpose and possibility that is dance. With the focus and dedicated time afforded by a residency, Barnes aims to bridge the knowledge gap with a group of engaged and invested dancers who desire to embody jazz alongside the Black dance traditions they currently bear. The resulting work may manifest as a choreographed jazz dance performance or an “improvography”-centered exploration of jazz and its scions.

Dancers:
LaTasha Barnes – Artistic Director
Michele Byrd-McPhee
Ray F. Davis
Duane Lee Holland, Jr.
Alain Lauture
Reyna Núñez
Shana Maria Weaver

Commissioned by Works & Process and premiered live at the Guggenheim on May 19, 2021

The Jazz Continuum will be presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival August 11-15, 2021.

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Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, and the Catskill Mountain Foundation announce a new digital series, Works & Process at Catskill Mountain Foundation. Each digital program will blend illuminating artists discussion with performance highlights to reveal the creative process of new dance commissions as they are being created inside Works & Process bubble residencies housed at the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s Orpheum Film & Performing Arts Center.