FLEE DANCE IN BATON ROUGE
FLEE DANCE HAD A BLAST IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, DURING THE GUEST ARTIST RESIDENCY WITH “OF MOVING COLORS PRODUCTIONS” (OMC) A COUPLE WEEKS AGO!
THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME IN LOUISIANA & I LOVED IT! IT WAS SO GREEN & BEAUTIFUL. THERE WAS SUCH A DEEP CULTURE IN MUSIC, ART & CULINARY. THE FOOD WAS LITERALLY THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EVER EATEN THUS FAR IN MY LIFE! I REALLY ENJOYED MYSELF & GETTING TO KNOW & SPEND TIME WITH OF THE MOVING COLORS CREW! THEY ARE ALL SUCH HARD WORKERS, QUICK LEARNERS, SO FUN & FULL OF LIFE! THEY DEFINITELY SHOWED ME A GREAT TIME!
I REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME IN REHEARSALS CHALLENGING AND PUSHING THEM. IT WAS FULFILLING TO WITNESS THEM SUCCEED AT MANY NEW THINGS! I ALSO COLLABORATED WITH THE DANCERS ON MY NEW CHOREOGRAPHED WORK, “DESCENDANTS”, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SEEING THEM COME ALIVE, EXECUTING LOVE, COMPASSION, STRUGGLE, PAIN & CELEBRATION ALL IN ONE PIECE. I ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN CHOREOGRAPHY & PERFORM WITH THEM IN THEIR PRODUCTION, “EXPOSED”, WHICH INCLUDED EXCERPTS FROM “SOFA STORIES”, WHICH PREMIERED IN 2018 & THE DANCERS PREMIERED, “DESCENDANTS”. I HAD A BLAST SHARING THE STAGE WITH THEM!
NOT ONLY DID I GET TO TEACH, CHOREOGRAPH AND PERFORM WITH OMC’S MAIN COMPANY, BUT I ALSO GOT TO POUR INTO THEIR YOUTH PROGRAM. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS PART OF THE RESIDENCY! THEY ARE THE NEXT GENERATION AND I AM HONORED THAT I GOT TO PLANT SEEDS OF LIGHT, POSITIVITY & DANCE TRAINING INTO THEIR LIVES. THEY DID SO GOOD! WE EVEN HAD THE LIGHTS GO OUT ON US DURING CLASS DUE TO BAD STORM AND THEY WERE STILL WELL BEHAVED AND ENGAGED! I LOVED IT!
WHILE IN BATON ROUGE, I HAD THE HONOR OF ALSO TEACHING A FEW MASTER CLASSES! ONE WAS AT THE NEW ARTS CENTER DOWNTOWN THAT JUST OPENED UP AND WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. ALSO IT WAS NOT TOO FAR FROM THE CAPITAL STATE BUILDING, WHICH IS THE COUNTRY’S TALLEST STATE CAPITAL BUILDING, SO I HAD TO GO SEE!
THE OTHER MASTER CLASSES WERE AT LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY (LSU) WITH THEIR COLLEGE STUDENTS. I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED MY TIME WITH THESE HUNGRY, HARD WORKING STUDENTS! THEY DEFINITELY BROUGHT MUCH JOY TO ME WHILE THERE! I TAUGHT A COUPLE CONTEMPORARY CLASSES AND A COMPOSITION CLASS. IN COMPOSITION, WE WORKED ON CREATING ABOUT COVID-19 & THE RESULTS WERE PRETTY AWESOME! I AM SO PROUD OF THEM!
AS I PREPARED TO HEAD BACK HOME, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO STOP AND VISIT THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART WHILE EATING BEIGNETS, SUCH AN AMAZING COMBINATION! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MY TIME WITH THE OMC COMMUNITY!
I LOOK FORWARD TO COMING BACK TO BATON, ROUGE IN JANUARY TO PERFORM THE SOLO, “WARRIOR”, SEE THE JOURNEY OF MY NEW WORK, “DESCENDANTS”, PERFORM WITH THE MAIN COMPANY AGAIN, AND POUR MORE INTO THE YOUTH/COMMUNITY DURING OMC’S ANNUAL PRODUCTION, “KICK IT OUT… AROUND THE WORLD.” KICK IT OUT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LOCAL BOYS AND GIRLS TO APPEAR ALONGSIDE PROFESSIONAL DANCERS IN THEIR UPCOMING WINTER PRODUCTION, KICK IT OUT... AROUND THE WORLD. THIS ANNUAL DANCE PRODUCTION IS OPEN TO STUDENTS (AGES 5 - 18) FROM AREA PRIVATE, PUBLIC, AND HOME SCHOOLS. STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE DANCE CLASSES TAUGHT BY PROFESSIONAL DANCERS IN PREPARATION FOR PERFORMING ON STAGE IN A FULL-SCALE THEATRICAL DANCE PRODUCTION. BATON ROUGE SEE YOU SOON AND MUCH LOVE!
