This beautifully curated evening by JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center began with a very bare stage, an altar set with candles, and beautiful jazz music playing. The music playing was so soothing and comforting that it created an emotional warmth that was palpable. The lights grew dim, the music ceased and a woman made her grand entrance in all white. Tall, majestic, strong, she immediately conjured up memories of recently departed Judith Jamison, Alvin Ailey’s muse. The Ritual began with words acknowledging the importance of this evening, the ancestors who watch over us and continue to live through us, and the accomplishment of surviving and thriving for 30 years. It was the perfect opening and set the tone for the entire evening. As Queen Sistar Beverly Brewster peppered her comments with Àṣẹ, àṣẹ and the audience responded with Àṣẹ, àṣẹ it was clear that the audience was family and community and integral to everything that would be happening during the evening. Those in attendance would not be watching but would be participating!
JazzAntiqua – Queen Sistar Beverly Brewster – Libation – Photo by Mesiyah McGinnis.
The transition from this moving opening into the first dance was seamless. The music slowly changed, the lighting began to change, and the Griot slowly, with strength and determination, faded from view leaving only the sound of her rhythmic cane hitting the floor signaling an end and a beginning. The Rhythm of Life seemed to come from nowhere. Dancers were suddenly everywhere and clearly going somewhere important. Fast and furiously moving in diagonal lines covering the entire stage. Walking, strutting, jumping, turning, proud, elegant, swagger personified all moving constantly but rarely in unison. You could see personalities…movement personalities caressing the rhythms. Lifts just appeared accentuating the rises and falls in the music. All the dancers had this expanded and open carriage of the torso as if they were enjoying the sun. Their arms were spread wide and they stretched and reached to ends of their fingers. It was amazing to see lifts that happened in the midst of dancers running or swiftly walking and then the number softly ended and poetry began.
JazzAntiqua – “The Rhythm of Life” – Photo by George Simian.
Once again, a seamless transition to Ava DuPree-Holmes who brought the poetry of Langston Hughes to life. The poems selected were all staples in the language arts curriculum of many in the audience. I softly recited most of the poems with her and looked around to hear others doing the same. Lenox Avenue… “The Rhythm of life is a jazz rhythm…” immediately transported us to Lenox Avenue, Harlem, NY. Anyone that has ever been to Harlem knows there is a unique energy and excitement that only lives there in the streets and brownstones that reside near The Studio Museum and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The home of Langston Hughes, now a landmark, is grandly sits at 20 East 127th street in Harlem.
Dream Variations…”To fling my arms wide in the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening… A tall, slim tree…Night coming tenderly Black like me.” Then, before you knew it we were in the midst of a boxing match.
JazzAntiqua – Tashara Gavin-Moorehead – “T.K.O. The Knock Out” – Photo by George Simian.
TKO: The Knockout danced and choreographed by Tashara Gavin-Moorehead to the music of Max Roach and Abby Lincoln was a definite change of pace. I imagined that she was punching racism, inequity, injustice, unfairness, hatred, as she was dodging and weaving, floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, moving, moving, moving. Quick jabs, long punches, fast, furious flurries of punches accompanied by turns, kicks, jumps, and turns demonstrating unbelievable endurance and strength. It was a little jarring when she appeared to resort to tapping but even so she was totally committed to her fight. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Lewis, boxing personalities that seemed to be reborn in this fierce boxer girl.
JazzAntiqua – Justin Edmonson and Laura Ann Smyth – “One of These Mornings” – Photo by George Simian.
Music and dance became one in One of These Mornings, a sensuous and stunning pas de deux to McCoy Tyner’s version of Gershwin’s Summertime. Justin Edmondson and Laura Ann Smyth are perfect partners with their long, sinewy arms, legs, and hands that go on forever. They move as if they are in the piano that is playing this so familiar song. Each movement melts into the next from turns to small jumps, and lifts with no visible preparation. It was a dance of love everlasting and eternal. Love that goes on and on and on stretching, pulling, whirling and twirling, fast, slow, and gently back to the beginning seated, calm, peaceful, and obviously in love.
There is one, and only one, Charles Reese, orator, poet, artist. He stepped on stage looking “sugar sharp” in his black hat, black scarf flowing, shiny black boots, and bejeweled black jeans. Mr. Reese immediately takes command of the stage with his large baritone and booming voice, “Go the way your blood beats!” He took us all right to church with call and response that went beyond “Àṣẹ, àṣẹ.” “Artists are here to disturb the peace!” and the audience had no choice but to respond. He strutted and pranced from stage right to stage left like a Baptist preacher reciting the words of James Baldwin and moving through sadness, anger, love, frustration, laughter, and unabashed joy. Charles, resurrected James Baldwin in his recitation of Today Feels Like A Poem (For James Baldwin) and it was glorious!
JazzAntiqua – Chris Smith & Autumn Randolph – “The Rhythm of Life” – Photo by Mesiyah McGinnis.
Up until now, jazz was the music backdrop upon which the dancers moved. “Safe From Harm,” a solo danced by Aaron Stokes to the music of noted gospel artist BeBe Winans took the evening to another place. Mr. Stokes, a gifted technician able to give meaning to every movement was phenomenal throughout the evening but this solo was his tour de force. It was as if he was living in the glorious voice of Mr. Winans, catching every breath, every pause, every nuance of every lyric. You could hear a pin drop as he soared through the air only to land without a sound. A strong, compact, muscular body that he is totally in control of. He turns and stops on a dime and then manages to execute a hinge that goes to the floor in the blink of an eye. He can make time stop in the midst of a turn or jump. The choreography was wrapped around the music and lyrics in an innovative and unique way. There was a visceral and reflective quality to the movement that showed off the technical proficiency of Mr. Stokes.
“I’m safe, I’m safe in the eye of the storm,
there’s calm for the Lord is good.
My soul is safe from harm.”
Aaron Stokes was dancing at the altar through the eye of the storm of life and there was a sense of calm as the dance ended and the thunderous applause began.
Another seamless transition and a change of mood as Sunflowers began. The song is taken from The Marciac Suite, an album by Wynton Marsalis that was recorded for the Marciac Jazz Festival. According to The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD it is considered “one of Wynton’s happiest and most enjoyable sets.” This was a dance of pure joy and the company did a fabulous job performing with endless energy. Movements were clean, quick, and sharp and included directional changes, long angular arms and shapes, and unison phrases that were impeccable. There was a melting movement that the entire company repeated throughout the dance and even that was done in perfect unison. The interlude featuring the men was especially joyous, the duets done by women were brief but interesting, and there was a solo performed that was filled with jumps, turns, and jumps that turned in the air. When the company began to dance in unison they seemed to be moving to the orchestral nuances in the music with pure abandon.
JazzAntiqua – Bernard Brown – “And So It Is…” – Photo by George Simian.
And So It Is… choreographed and performed by Bernard Brown, brought another change of pace. “And so it is,” a powerful affirmation used in prayer and meditation meaning acceptance of the present moment and acknowledgment that things are happening as they should, a reminder to stay grounded and focused on now not the past or the future. The spoken word that Bernard moved to brought the audience to now. His fierce commitment to every movement and the power behind the movement phrases accentuated “out the lies” and “the revolution has come” lyrics from the music by Sault. Bernard was clearly speaking to the audience dancing with a ferocity and focus that forced the audience to watch and listen closely. His movement was the antithesis to everything that had been done thus far. The music appeared to be a backdrop or catalyst for the movement. Furthermore Sault is a British music collective of R&B, urban contemporary gospel, house and disco. Bernard’s movements were not characterized by the long, fluid lines of the jazz vocabulary that permeated the evening, instead modern vocabulary was clearly the basis of his choreography. It is interesting that urban contemporary gospel was the music of choice of the two solos performed and the relationship between movement and music in both was so unique.
JazzAntiqua – A Kind of Blue – Photo by George Simian.
Spoken word provided by Ava DuPree-Holmes transported us back to the jazz world. Her recitation of text from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr left the audience feeling that jazz is always triumphant. When she emphatically states, “This is triumphant music!” the excitement of the audience is palpable. Another seamless transition to A Kind Of Blue and a beautiful, fluid, undulating, long sinewy solo in silence, then music and dancers are dancing their hearts out in a jook joint. Sharp, quick, kicks and turns done in perfect unison. Body percussion in the form of claps, snaps, slaps on the thighs accenting musical phrases and movements highlighted the sheer energy that the dancers moved with. Duets, trios, small groups, and the entire company performed intricate movement phrases with different energy, qualities and overall styles of movements. The dance seemed to move through time back to another era reminiscent of Soul Train at one point. The music changes, the movement changes, and the lighting changes. There is a visceral quality to outstretched arms and torsos that seem to lift and open hearts to the sun. Each dancer has a story to tell. This eclectic group of men and women, different sizes and shapes, all majestic and technically proficient have something to say. Somehow they are different but clearly a cohesive company. The section danced to Miles Davis’ Blue In Green was especially moving and conjured up the words of the poet…”Jazz speaks for life. The blues tell the stories of life’s difficulties.” This suite takes the audience on an emotional movement journey of highs and lows and every feeling in between. As the dancers begin to move in a large circle, spinning, twirling, turning, jumping, moving endlessly through time sometimes with the music, sometimes between the rhythms, and the words of the poet are captured again,”…they take the hardest realities of life and put them into the music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.” What a wonderful way to end a 30 year anniversary celebration.
Pat Taylor is the Artistic Director and choreographer of JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble.
To learn more about JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, please visit their website.
For more information about the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, please visit their website.
Written by Leah Bass-Baylis for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: JazzAntiqua – Madeline Sharp – Sunflowers – Photo by George Simian.
