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PERIDANCE FACULTY

Guest / Past
Brandon Barker

Brandon Barker

Jazz, Lindy Hop

BIOGRAPHY

At the beginning of his dance journey Brandon was exclusively doing Ballet. It was how his mother got started in the performing arts and it became how he did as well. This happened after the artistic director and founder of the Harlem School of the Arts Arthur Mitchell gave him a scholarship to go to the school as they were low on interested young men at the time. This gave him enough interest to continue pursuing dance even after he left Dance Theatre of Harlem through his after-school programs where he did Jazz dance. This led him to the Ballet Tech middle school where he continued Ballet and added some modern dancing to his roster. Afterwards that he attended the Professional Performing Arts High School where he diversified his skillset and abilities through different techniques including but not limited to Horton, Graham, West African, and Lindy Hop dancing. This training gave him the necessary foundation to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While doing this he added a second major in public policy growing interest in the financial allocation that goes to arts organizations and seeing how he could balance dancing but also doing the behind the scenes management and policies that make the dances possible and make them accessible. Now an Alumni from UMASS Amherst, Brandon uses his B.F.A dance Degree to teach and perform lindy hop while he uses his public policy degree to work with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

CLASS DESCRIPTION

While most modern day jazz classes explore Broadway style jazz heavily inspired by Bob Fosse or contemporary jazz with modern vocabulary, very few look at the vernacular jazz roots that set the foundation for these styles. This beginner class with explore Solo Jazz and Lindy Hop from the black communities of Harlem New York back in the 1920s around the same time as the Harlem Renaissance. We will move through solo movements that will then be integrated into a partnering context and then zoom in on essential foundations for how to do basic partnered steps. As we physically explore these concepts we will be walking through the historical context of the dance and how it informs the styles that we have today. Different prompts and fun icebreakers will be spread out within the class agenda. There will be room for everyone to discover how they want to move through their solo and partnered movement.





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