American Vernacular Dance Week 2016 at the Augusta Heritage Center

American Vernacular Dance Week provides a cross-cultural cross-training program for dancers from a broad range of backgrounds. This year’s focus on Connecting Global Branches offers explorations of Salsa and other Latin American partner dance, Breaking, House, Popping, Motown Dances, Percussive Dance, West African and many other workshops that explore the sometimes-surprising intersections of familiar traditions. Students have access to individual attention with master artists, so they will not only become better dancers, but will learn to place dance in a historical and cultural context making these traditions richer, fuller and more satisfying. Come to Augusta ready to dance hard, think hard and collaborate.

Tuition paid BEFORE June 1: $450.
Tuition paid AFTER June 1: $490.
REGISTER HERE: https://secure.dewv.edu/augusta/

The 2016 American Vernacular Dance Week staff includes:
(for bios and class information: https://goo.gl/w24yrB)

Emily Oleson: Coordinator
Teena Custer: Coordinator

Teena Custer: Breaking
Joshua Legg: Guest Lecturer, “Caribbean & Appalachian Folk Dances on the Concert Stage: Dunham, Balanchine & Beyond”
Melanie George: Guest Lecturer, “From Shark Charges to J-Setting: Reciprocity in Theatrical & Vernacular Jazz Dance”
Kwame Opare: Lecturer, “‘Out of the Village On to the Stage’: A Look at West African Dance as Practice and Performance and How it Came to Be an Art Form in the United States in the 20th and 21st Centuries”; West African Dance
Edwin Roa: Lecturer, “Partner Dances & Port Towns: Stories & Theories of Cross-Cultural Connection”; Salsa Dance; Boleros & Bachatas; Kizomba; Beginning Argentine Tango Mini-Course
Baakari Wilder: Guest Lecturer, “Tap Dancing in Relationship to Hip Hop Culture”
Karen Hubbard: Guest Artist; Authentic Jazz
Laurie Goux: Guest Artist, “Caribbean & Appalachian Folk Dances on the Concert Stage: Dunham, Balanchine & Beyond”
Isaiah T. Taylor: Guest Artist; Hustle & Rock Dance
Ben Lieb: Beginning Lindy Hop; Staff Musician
Ann Kilkelly: Motown Dances
Matthew Olwell w/ Josephine Stewart: Percussive Dance Cross-Section
“Big Mike” Fields: Popping
Kelsa “K-Soul” Robinson: Samba Infused House; House Dance – Chicago Aesthetics

Josephine Stewart: Beginning Flatfooting Mini-Course

Miguel Benitez: Staff Musician
Ron “Stealth1” Chunn, Jr.: Staff Musician
Vladimir Espinosa: Staff Musician
Jabari Exum: Staff Musician
Jess McIntosh: Staff Musician
Aaron Olwell: Staff Musician
Kike Rodriguez: Staff Musician

Margaret Tratta: Liaison