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Hip Hop Nutcracker with Guest MC Kurtis Blow (Review)

12/16/2022

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​Sunday, December 11, 2022, I attended The Hip Hop Nutcracker with Guest Kurtis Blow. In transparency, I have been struggling to get this review done. I intended to post on Wednesday, December 14, but after hearing the news of our dance brother tWitch Boss walking with the ancestors, I just couldn’t get the words out. What made sense just moments prior to reading of his death did not anymore. I am still struggling with what to say about the work in light of how the dance community is grieving at this time. I also recognized that the artists who put it all out there for the Fort Lauderdale community were deserving of being recognized for their hard work and efforts.

This production, based on the Nutcracker by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, adapted by Mike Fitelson and directed and choreographed by Jennifer Webber takes place New Year’s Eve in “Uptown, USA.”
Act I: Set at a holiday street fiesta, the protagonist Maria-Clara gets upset at the party due to her parents arguing. The characters Drosselmeyer, the Nutcracker, and the Mouse Crew appear entertaining the audience with high energy and explosive dance moves. Marie-Clara meets a street vendor (The Nutcracker) and falls in love with him.

Act II: Maria-Clara and her boo, the Nutcracker are taken back in time to 1984 by Drosselmeyer. They enter a nightclub scene and from the sidelines witness the partygoers showing off the dances of the era. Maria-Clara understands this as the initial encounter of when her parents first met. After another dance scene they time travel to the present and aide in her parents rekindling their love.

I enter The Coral Springs Center for The Arts and hear DJ Boo playing “Love Nwantiti” by CKay. I had to make the decision, asking myself was I performing tonight or am I going to be an audience member? This was the beginning of his mix to get the crowd hype. His playlist included “Sweetest Taboo” by our royal queen Sade, “Back to Life” by “Soul II Soul, “Candy Rain” by Soul For Real, and “Only You (Club Mix) by 112. I was pleased to see a multigenerational and multiracial audience. I observed audience members eating popcorn and drinking various beverages that were allowed into the theater. It appeared as if the audience members were going to the movies or a music concert.  I have not heard of or seen people eating popcorn at the theater especially when going to see a ballet or any other dance production. It was becoming clearer that tonight would not be average.  
Kurtis Blow enters the stage dressed in a white tuxedo with graffiti that had “HIP HOP” painted on the blazer, a white baseball cap, silver bowtie, and white sneakers. He led the crowd in a call and response that included rapping to old school joints such as “Rappers Delight” from the Sugar Hill Gang, Grand Master Flash’s “The Message, “Just a Friend”  by Biz Markie, and House of  Pain’s “Jump Around.”  DJ Boo had the crowd rockin’ as he took us down old school Hip Hop memory lane. Blow informed us that this was “not a normal Nutcracker [and we should] let our hair down [and] let [our]selves go” (Blow 2022). He stated, “if Tchaikovsky was here, he would want to do a nutcracker like this” (Blow 2022). Let’s see, a white male from Europe in the 1800’s working within a classical music tradition…I don’t know Kurtis—probably not.

Violinist Vivek Menon sets it off with impeccable skills, making his violin sang! He torches the stage with his fusion of Hip Hop and classical music. It’s giving very much Black Violin vibes. DJ Boo is mixing in the background layering the levels of funk to this exquisite sound. It was Fiyah! The performance featured solo’s, duets, and ensemble work that included contemporary dance elements and old school and current street and social dance; but the choreography  was heavily drawing from breaking vernacular. We saw B-boy and B-girl’s voguing, whacking and doing backflips/front flips, backspins, head spins, battles, popping and locking, turtles, and windmills in and out of the cypher.

I connected a lot of this work to Rennie Harris’s Puremovement, particularly his Rome and Jewels piece which similarly juxtaposes a classical idea/concept (theater/music) with Hip Hop dance and music. Harris’s demonstration of Hip Hop technique for the concert stage is bar none particularly when discussing the seamlessness of the dancers as they enter and exit the cypher but also as they transition from one aesthetic to the other. It is like buttah baby. This is where the Hip Hop Nutcracker loses a little steam. This doesn’t discount the power and the dancer’s execution of the movements which are amazing. Secondly, I did get lost in some sections; had I not read the program, I would not have made certain connections. The storyline gets lost at times,  this is due to some of the acting—perhaps.

Overall, I loved the production, the cast is brilliant. The digital background added to the texture of the scenes and the period based costumes very vibrant. There was humor, symbolism, and cultural references that I think many of the audiences received. The women were beasts. Randi “Rascal” Freitas took no prisoners when she danced. I appreciated the multiracial casting. This production was an authentic representation of the world that we live in and to see not only women on stage cutting up and showing out but also to see so many women and men of color in this production performing in movement styles that have been dismissed in many predominantly white institutions (PWI’s) in higher education dance programs speaks volumes to the work that many of my colleagues are doing. This is it. This is where we want to see dance go, move, be, and live. It also serves as an education for the audience as well, revealing that dance is not reserved for one body, race, culture, or aesthetic. I mean Drossylmeyer was a Black woman with locks!

#hiphopnutcracker
#culturalcritic
#dancewriter
#fashion
#danceandculture
 
Image 1: Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker
Imag 2: Kurtis Blow
Image 3: Vivek Menon
Image 4:  Hip Hop Nutcracker Backdrop
Image 5: Drosselmeyer (Lisa “L-Boogie” Bauford) w/ Castmeber  
Image 6: Ensemble Act I
Image 7: Ensemble Act I
Image 8: Nutcracker
Image 9: DJ Boo
Image 10: AC


 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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Miami Art Week/Art Basel 2022 Wrap Up

12/6/2022

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​It has been a full week of art, music, fashion, and dance! I’m grateful to have experienced so much beautiful artistry by amazing local, regional, and international creators. My week commenced with the Knight Foundation Art Champion Celebration at the Perez Art Museum Miami on Monday. Tuesday, I performed at the LOOP art showcase and exhibition at the Claire Oliver Gallery (http://www.caribfunk.com/blog). Thursday was “Le Art Nior, Diversity in Color,” an evening of art, fashion, and entertainment at The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center which was a part of the “Art of Black Miami” series (http://www.caribfunk.com/blog). Saturday featured an evening of dance at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus where the Jubilation Dance Ensemble shared “The Art of Dance: Sacred and Sanctified—Breathe, Motion, and the Creative Process” under the direction of Michelle Grant-Murray. This event was not a part of the Miami Art Week/Art Basel but it was ordained for this event to fall in alignment with this festival (to be discussed later!) Sunday, I performed with Olujimi Dance Collective as a part of the culminating event of AfriKin Art 2022 who’s theme was “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born: Acknowledging the Beauty of the Creation Existing Here, Now, and Next…”

AfriKin Art 2022 featured artists “whose works are being presented within the framework of concepts surrounding the 1968 novel, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born, by Ayi Kwei Armah” (www.afrikin.org). The contributing artists featured represented the Diaspora far and   wide: Nigeria, Jamaica, Haiti, USA, Senegal, Cameroon, Netherlands, Colombia, Ghana, Cuba, Burkina Faso and beyond!

AfriKin 2022 opened with a VIP preview at Maison AfriKin, 318 NE 80th Terrace, Miami, FL 33138 as well as curated events at the Miami Hilton Blue Lagoon Thursday, 12/1/22 through Sunday, 12/4/22. Thursday, 12/1/22 “Loci of Affiliation: The Artist as a Producer of Knowledge (panel discussion). Friday, 12/2/22 “Narratives of Resistance: The Poetics and Politics of Staying Human (panel discussion), Saturday, 12/3/22 “Black Women’s Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power” (book launch and discussion). Sunday, 12/4/22: Fashion show by Aida Diop and dance performance by Olujimi Dance Collective.

AfriKin Founder and Director Alfonso D’Niscicio Brooks hosted the culminating event. The place was packed with patrons of the arts, familiar faces, and profound Black artists, scholars, and performers. It was a wonderful event. Aida Diop’s fashions are exquisite and are a must have. Her designs are beyond gorgeous. The color palette offers something for everyone—rich, bold, and vibrant. Her designs can take you from casual, to the office, or cocktail hour effortlessly.  I have several pieces that I am in love with!

Olujimi Dance Collective under the direction of Michelle Grant-Murray burned the house down (as per usual). The first piece “Un Earthed” was performed by Barney Pena Espinal, Erika Layola, and Shanna Woods. Espinal’s solo begins the piece. She sets the atmosphere with her raffia inspired costume, the fullness of the skirt and top provides a musical composition with its swooshing sound. With her arms placed in several Dunham-esque positions and pelvis rising and falling to meet Damballah, she cleanses the space. The work offers traditional African dance movements layered with a fusion of Black dance rituals and aesthetics. The women breathed life into the atmosphere with big jumps, rotating hips, and fluid torsos. African drumming, roosters crowing and the sounds of bottles clacking work in relationship to Bowmboi performed by Rokia Traoré.  Woods enters by unrolling and releasing herself from a sea of aqua fabric revealing her earth toned halter top dress that moves with her sometimes erratic and fierce composition. Layola’s lime green dress is the perfect complement; Woods and Layola are a splendid pair searching, reaching, and succumbing to the powers of the earth.

The second piece T.W.E.R.K. performed by company members Erika Layola, Shanna Woods, and A’Keitha Carey is centered on women journeying with the idea of the “train”  which serves as a metaphor for transition but also as the conduit to take one to their location/destiny. The work explores the history of each woman and the events that take place on their journey. The company performed and excerpt of the work which is set to premier at the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center in January 2023.

AfriKan’s mission is to “Creat[e] cultural connections through masterful artistry and meaningful conversations” (www.afrikin.org) and they did just what they said! Congratulations Alphonso and your team. You have curated yet another wonderful event that has enlightened, enriched, and empowered the community. The selected works and artists featured were sublime! Please support this organization—they are “The Beautiful Ones…”  Thank you Miami Art Week/Art Basel; it was beyond my expectations. Remember to ALWAYS SEE SOMETHING NOIR!
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Photo Credits
Images of Olujumi Dance Collective and the Fashion show taken by Folayan Griffiths
Images of group and A’Keitha Carey taken by Steph Sanchez
Images of the artwork was not posted
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#culturalcritic
#dancewriter
#fashion
#art
#danceandculture
#artbaselmiami
#afrikannation
#olujimidancecollective
                                                           

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LOOP Art Showcase and Exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery (Art Basel)

12/2/2022

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​Day 2 of Miami Art Week (for me) and she’s booked and busy! Still working on the Knight Foundation Art Champion Celebration recap from Monday!

November 29th, I performed at the LOOP art showcase and exhibition at the Claire Oliver Gallery. I am still basking in the overwhelming brilliance of artistic expression that included several of the nine dimensions of “erotic performance” that I am investigating in my dissertation research!): power, pleasure, sexuality, virtuosity, desire, autonomy, play, sensuality, and freedom.

The vocal savant and goddess Mumu Fresh shared her gift with an intimate group at the Historic Lyric Theater. After her performance, the audience was invited to walk next door for cocktails, art, dance, and fashion at the Claire Oliver Gallery. I opened the fashion show with a solo featuring signature CaribFunk dance and fitness movement performed to AfroBeat and Soca, setting up the beautiful models to showcase the collaboration between Bahamian visual artist Gio Swaby and the fashion designer duo BruceGlen.

The critical and engaging art exhibition was the perfect backdrop for the moving art exhibition/fashion by the designers. The artists featured in the exhibition were: Robert Peterson, Gio Swaby, Stan Squirewell, Simone Saunders, Lauren Fensterstock, Aaron Stephan, Barbara Earl Thomas, and Jeffrey Henson Scales. Please feed your soul and spirit by stopping by the gallery to view the imaginative and profound work by the artists.

It was a pleasure to participate in this event because of the Bahamian connection. Even the videographer Charlie Bahama is Bahamian! I will provide a full recap of all the events I attended and/or participated in at the end of Art Basel.

Image 1: AC and Gio Swaby
Image 2: AC and BruceGlen
Image 3: AC Pre Performance w/Jacket
Image 4: Designers and Hostess
Image 5: Mumu Fresh
Image 6: Gio Swaby: “Self Portrait 2”
Image 7: Simone Sanders: “A Prayer”
Image 8: Stan Squirewell: “Bonita & Blu”

#culturalcritic
#dancewriter
#fashion
#art
#danceandculture
#bahamas
#artbaselmiami

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Art Basel: Le Art Nior, Diversity in Color 2022 (Review)

12/2/2022

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​Art Basel: Le Art Nior, Diversity in Color (Review)
The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center (AHCAC) hosted Le Art Nior, Diversity in Color last night (12/1/22) which is a part of the “Art of Black Miami” series. It was an evening of Art, Fashion, and Entertainment but it was also a homecoming and family reunion for me. The AHCAC and Marshall Davis, the Director serve as my dance education home. Mr. Davis offered me my first teaching job in 1998 and I remained there for 8 years serving as the Dance Director and the Artistic Director of the resident dance companies before leaving for graduate school in 2005. Driving up and seeing the transformation of the campus and the expansion of the buildings was such a joy because I can recall staff meetings where Mr. Davis and other employees shared their vision and to see the manifestation of these ideas was gratifying. I saw former colleagues Bayunga Kialeuka, a featured artist, Darryn Ferguson, who was there volunteering his time to assist with the setup, and Isis Roberts, Arts Administrator. My heart was full.

The First Frequency art exhibition in the Amadlozi Gallery was developed by Bayunga Kialeuk:  the artists featured are Boris Anje, Precy Numbi, Sesse Elangwe, Nicole Grace, Kingtsey, Aurelia Djena, Hako Hankson and many more! As I entered the gallery space, I was blown away be the work—many of the images didn’t have the artists information because they are still preparing for the official opening which is today (12/2/22). There was a range of mediums, textures, and themes on display. The work is brilliant and vivid, drawing you in multiple ways. I overheard conversations with a few of the artists and visitors; they were very generous as they discussed their process and inspiration. The gallery on the west side of the building offers a different experience and energy. As soon as you walk into the space you are greeted with deep and rich colors, reminiscent of Nick Cave or Junkanoo artwork set in den like space. The gallery on the side (around the corner) is more open and lighter with large pieces which will captivate the senses.

The gallery on the east side of the building provides a wonderful cultural stamp, offering pieces that are reminiscent of both moments in history in terms of Black activists and also work that features men and women who could be our friend, neighbor, or partner. The art moves you and seems to move with you, this is what Louis Oliver (one of the hosts of the event) stated as he viewed the work.
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After, I viewed the galleries, I noticed that there was a buzz occurring and it was time for the program to begin. The DJ was in full effect, hyping the audience up with Afrobeat and remixed 70’s and 80s classics. There was also a saxophonist rocking with the beat which added to the funky vibes of the event. He later stated that he also plays at the Miami Heat games. After his performance, Louis Oliver and his event co- partner welcomed us, thanked their sponsors, and brought them all up on stage to offer a few words. Mr. Davis greeted us in his usual “short and sweet” performance, then the fashion show commenced. The lovely ladies of all shapes, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds, wore various indigenous inspired pieces; nude dresses, multiple versions of a fringe long leather vest over unitards, thongs, and pants, a light-colored two-piece (skirt and mid riff cut out top). There were various versions of sheer dresses revealing cheeks of all proportions.  The designer also featured a full figured look. Most of the models wore feathered headpieces accentuating their unique designs. I would definitely rock any of these looks! If only I knew her name. Unfortunately, there was no information immediately available for the designer. If, you are interested in a piece of artwork or the fashion, please call the center at 305-638-6771 and definitely make your way out there to see the amazing work of the artists. On Sunday, December 3 @ 3pm (3:30pm – 9:00 pm) the AHCAC is hosting the 6th Annual Art, Blues & Soul Festival with special performances by Marsha Ambrosius, Meli’sa Morgan, Next, and more! Check out www.ahcacmiami.org for more information. See and do something “Noir” this weekend!

A’Keitha Carey
Cultural Critic and Dance Writer
#culturalcritic
#dancewriter
#fashion
#art
#danceandculture
#bahamas
#artbaselmiami
 
Image 1: A’Keitha Carey
Image 2: A’Keitha Carey (Artist Unknown)
Image 3: A’Keitha Carey (Artist: Bayunga Kialeuk/”Protect Your Seed”)
Image 4: A’Keitha Carey (Artist Unknown)
Image 5: A’Keitha Carey (Artist Unknown)
Image 6: Artist Unknown
Image 7: Artist Unknown
Image 8: VanJoe: “Heart of the City


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    I am writing about dance, fitness, Caribbean culture, race, cultural studies, body politics, and popular culture.

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