DeanwoodxDesign

Urban Artistry members, Maren Cummings and Emily Oleson took part in DeanwoodxDesign this weekend on Saturday, July 14th.  DeanwoodxDesign is a four-month long project that showcases the rich arts, cultural, historical, and green space assets of Deanwood and Ward 7 through a community-wide, intergenerational, and collaborative effort. This project was funded by an ArtPlace grant from the DC Office of Planning (OP) and managed by Partners for Livable Communities (Partners). DxD is one of four Arts and Culture Temporiums that OP has funded through ArtPlace in the emerging creative neighborhoods.  

Emily Oleson, as a co-founder of Good Foot Dance Company and Artistic Director of Urban Artistry, performed pop out performances of traditional and vernacular movement from American percussive dance. Their movements show the connections between Irish and European step dance, Appalachian flatfooting, tap, and contemporary movement.  As Good Foot Dance Company performed on the porch of The Fishing School, Maren Cummings, Assistant Director of Operations for Urban Artistry and Senior Site Coordinator for The Fishing School, did arts and crafts with youth.  The Fishing School serves as a safe haven that has offered academic and enrichment programs to more than 3,000 young people and their families in Washington, D.C for the past 22 years. With such a rich history and investment in the development of youth and their families, The Fishing School served as a temporium space for this DeanwoodxDesign kick-off event. 

Urban Artistry has been a partner of The Fishing School for the past year, offering classes during the after-school programming. We also currently have two members working for the Fishing School during the summer program.  We are invested in building communities and recognizing histories through our work as professional company members as well as in our individual careers.

http://www.fishingschool.org/

http://mattolwell.wordpress.com/good-foot/

Nicole Hill: the knee brace that changed her life!

A man once said it's not all about dance. In the dance company, Urban Artistry, there are individuals from all walks of life with extremely diverse backgrounds. I tend to find myself thinking quite often about how this all came to light. It's really profound how one individual that had a vision, despite the negative backlash of several nay-sayers, created and sought out individuals who shared the same vision but didn't know the ways of making it come a reality.

I used to work with my now, mentor, Ryan Webb. In the beginning, our shifts didn't coincide. He worked in the morning and I worked in the afternoon. We were cordial, and then we became friends. Eventually, he taught me popping and we spent the whole next summer practicing and hanging out everyday. In turn, he took me to a dance studio in D.C, where I took a few house dance classes from Junious “House” Brickhouse.

The weekend of July 4^th, 2006, Ryan invited me to go to a house club off New York Avenue in Washington, DC called Mirrors. House, Tasha, Emily, and Ryan were there.

Within 15 minutes of being there, I was dancing, and my knee turned one way and my body turned the other way. I was on a dark dance floor, with music blaring, and I was hunched on the floor. Eventually, people realized that I wasn't doing a floor move, and that I was really hurt. The music stopped; the lights came on, and some one called an ambulance. Unbelievably, one of the patrons who was just hanging out and having a drink was an Orthopedic Surgeon! The dancers and her stayed with me on the floor of the club until the paramedics came.

House, barely knowing me, only as a student who took his class once or twice, volunteered to ride in the ambulance with me, even though he hates riding in them. He held my hand the whole time and consoled me. Tasha and Emily, having never met me before, followed suit with Ryan, behind the ambulance. They all stayed with me at Georgetown Hospital throughout the night while they took x-rays and treated me for the injury.

As I mentioned, this was fourth of July weekend, so needless to say, there were characters throughout the hospital. These wonderful individuals could have continued partying “all night long” a la Lionel Ritchie, at one of the biggest party nights in one of the big house clubs in D.C. Instead, they chose to spend time with someone they barely knew who needed help. We were there at the hospital from about 11pm that night to 5am the next morning. I was taken aback by how empathetic, caring, and compassionate, these individuals were, especially House, who stayed with me during the whole ambulance ride an in my hospital room.

I thought to myself, “this is something that I would do for another,” but I had never witnessed such a great selfless act like this before, on my behalf. Earlier I mentioned that I believe in fate... from that night on, I knew that there was a connection between me and these people coming from both sides. The caring for me continued as I recovered from the injury. I knew that I could trust them because the loyalty had already been built from the ground up... not only from the dance floor, but also in real life. The people in this group had a foundation for relationships that I always wanted in my life.

I didn't want to stay away. I wanted to get to know this circle of people even more. I was fresh off this injury when open auditions arose to join Urban Artistry in 2007. Coming fresh off an injury I had many doubts and concerns about whether or not I was ready to do normal everyday things, like walking, let alone dancing. But, I took a chance and auditioned, despite my fears and doubts, as a leap of faith...in fate... There's that word again.

I made it into Urban Artistry, and I was ecstatic, but unsure because this was my first time being part of a dance company. It was foreign to me. I was challenged to perform on stage, doing solos and choreography. Battles ranged from international sensations to beginners. I was vulnerable in the cypher and all of these experiences were helping me build character. I also joined the operations team, helping with event planning, website organization, rides for the kids to compete in jams in other cities, hosting of international guests during soul society and party planning for birthdays and baby showers.

Urban Artistry is not your typical dance company. It is designed to keep you honest, extremely honest... even when you try not to be. This honesty is not just with where you are as a dancer/performer/artist, but with where you are as a person, in all aspects of you life.

Urban Artistry stresses the importance of family.

With these lesson and support, I became strong enough to be completely honest in all aspects of my life, including my sexuality. This was a big step for me and gave me a new sense of freedom.

It also brought joy into my life.

We find humor in life, positivity, and we are just down right goofy at times.

Most importantly being with this group makes you deal with your fears and take them on. No more escaping and hiding from a task that ultimately makes you more courageous. It makes you see that you are capable of so much more than what you have ever imagined.

That wise man who said it was not about the dance was Junious. I have learned now that dance is a tool to unhinge the best person that you could possibly be, and to fasten yourself to dreams that you thought were not attainable. They can be reached, and once reached, more goals grow... a perpetual, rhythmic cycle of rebirth. During my six years with Urban Artistry, I have grown into a stronger me, both on and off stage. I am better equipped, both with friends and with colleagues.

As I look at this group of once five loosely connected people, to a group of 50 close knit people, I am touched that people are discovering their own paths of growth with the common goal in mind.

I always struggle to find the words to describe what I feel about the mission of Urban Artistry, and what the people in it mean to me. I cannot find the words to express my gratitude and appreciation enough for what each person in UA has shown me about myself.

To my friends in UA and new members I have not met yet, I thank you.

-Nicole Hill-

In the minds eye with SLY WONDER

Art refers to works of creative expression.

TRUST:

• the willingness of one party (trustor) to be vulnerable to the actions of another party (trustee);

• reasonable expectation (confidence) of the trustor that the trustee will behave in a way beneficial to the trustor;

• risk of harm to the trustor if the trustee will not behave accordingly; and

• the absence of trustor's enforcement or control over actions performed by the trustee.

TRIBE:

A unit of sociopolitical organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry and culture

FAMILY:

Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another.

Artistic Director Ryan "Future" Webb on "FINDING BALANCE"

Finding Balance

Artistic Director Ryan Webb

Growing up, my family and I were constantly traveling. Both of my parents were flight attendants and naturally I just went everywhere they did. On top of these travels, we also moved a lot. Starting in Houston, Texas, we moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina, and ended up settling in Ashburn, Virginia. As soon as my college years started, I began moving and traveling again. My freshmen year was spent at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. The rest of my college days were spent in Oceanside and Fullerton, California. All of these travels and moves are apart of my long journey to find a place that I could call home. Not just somewhere to sleep, but a place that felt right for me! It may have taken a while but I found this home in Urban Artistry.

As some of you may know, Rashaad and myself have been traveling for dance quite often in the past few years. From Korea, Japan, London, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark, we have gotten to experience multiple cultures overseas. The more dance experiences we are gaining, the more reassured I become that Urban Artistry is the most healthy learning environment for any dancer. The fact that House decided everyone must battle, compete, perform, teach, mentor, and direct has always been an ingenious idea for me. All of these aspects of dance are so important in giving you balance! Most of us in Urban Artistry don’t even realize how lucky we are to be learning ALL of these things.

For example, Rashaad and I traveled to London last year for our first major theatre show, “Human Robot”. It was performed at the Sadler’s Wells, which is one of the most well known theaters in the world. Although the stakes were high, for us it was just another day at work because we had been prepared for it through Urban Artistry.

When you begin paying close attention to each countries dance scene including our own here in the United States, you will see just how much each scene can learn from each other. Some countries lack cypher culture, others lack performance ability, the problem comes when people get stuck specializing in certain areas. The reason having balance is so important is because when you are traveling, knowing what the dancers are missing allows you to give them what they need. I could go on and on about each dance scene individually but the main purpose for this blog is to inspire you all to do everything!

Don’t just be a performer or a battler. Be a mentor and a cypher head as well. Never sell yourself short and remember that the things we learn in dance are also teaching us about everyday life. The better dance teacher you become, the better your communication skills will be. The more you perform, the more you learn about presenting yourself in front of others. Everything in life is a battle! Competition is everywhere so if you learn about battle techniques in dance, use them at your day job or while in debate with someone. It’s fun! Use what you know from dance in your every day lives, because the truth is if you are a balanced dancer, you have the ability to be a balanced person as well.

In closing, I just want to say; let’s all try to keep each other motivated to do everything as a dancer. Not only will it help you find balance, but it will prepare you for future dance travels as well. Traveling is amazing and a great learning experience, but let’s not forget how good we have it here at home guys….

Urban Artistry is a great group of people, and I appreciate you all for helping me find the place that felt right for me.

Simon Maxwell Eason and his new-found Family

Throughout my whole life I have done so many things. I have played almost every sport, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Lacrosse, Track & Field, Tennis, I used to Film all the time, write poetry all the time, play video games very heavily, want to be a Chef, and many other things that I used to always do, or want to do. All of these things have ended the same way; I either quit, or just stopped doing them. But I feel like finally I have found two passions that I don’t think I’ll let go of until the day I pass, Dancing and Djing.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever felt so much drive in the two activities, though like everyone we have our moments of laziness and disinterest. I try all the time to think of the reason why I love these things so very much, and just haven’t really been able to come up with an answer. It could be because within these two art forms, I have found something more than just “something to do” I have found a whole entire culture I never knew existed while I was sitting on my butt in Frederick. I also have found a love for music, a loving friend and mentor, and best of all a group of friends and family I can honestly say I love, and I don’t say I love very many things. CAB Crew and Urban Artistry have helped me not just within dance but also within life, because so many people within these groups have so much wisdom at their disposal. I feel so grateful that these people share this information with me because like I said, it has helped me so much in life.

While being a part of UA and CAB I have met dancers nationally and internationally and I have only been coming around for a year. I have traveled to many different states, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and we always go together just like a family does, and it provides me with such a sense of belonging and happiness. I had the good fortune of being a part of last year’s Soul Society and saw so many things that just made me smile and enjoy myself so much. I can see why so many wonderful members have gravitated towards this group and stayed around for as long as they have.

I ask one thing of everyone, to never let me quit! Because if I did, there wouldn’t be a day that goes by that I wouldn’t think about Dancing or Djing. I feel that with all these supportive and loving people around me I will never even think of quitting, because I don’t have much else that I have a passion for. I look forward to many more accomplishments and opportunities I have to come with my Crew and Company. Thanks to everyone for EVERYTHING! And I mean that with every ounce of my being. Michael McClain I’m very grateful that your introduced me to UA because you put these wheels in motion.

Megan Keefe, Director of Digital Media on Global Projects in bboy culture

As of today Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" viral video has been viewed more than 41 million times on Youtube. It has been talked about over social media, major tv networks, NPR and probably a few beers at your local watering hole. Whether you watch the Kony 2012 video or not it is important to learn about the history of Ugandan youth. Why? Because they are our brothers and sisters and their history is our history. Their pain is our pain.

In 2011 Junious and Hannah and I went to a screening of Bouncing Cats at the National Geographic Society. Junious and I recently returned from a trip to South Africa where Junious taught South African youth about the history, culture, and movement of House Dance. This film about Uganda brought tears to my eyes because I suddenly saw the positive impact of urban dance culture in South Africa and Uganda. It's something that's happening in Africa without thousands of dollars of investment or the visibility of the western world. It is stronger than money or political power. Dance will always bind us together. When greed, racism, violence and fear work to tear us apart, dance will bind us together. It's always been this way.

http://vimeo.com/12234800

Find out more about the film and how to make donations to Breakdance Project Uganda by visiting the Bouncing Cats website: http://www.bouncingcats.com/synopsis/

Watch John Legend talk about the film: http://vimeo.com/20751293

Other links:

https://www.facebook.com/bouncingcats

https://twitter.com/#!/bouncingcats

http://www.bpuevents.org/

-Megan Keefe-

IntersectionsDC.org & MetroDC Dance Awards

This year Urban Artistry joins PDM, Public Displays of Motion lead by Peter DiMuro in a collaborative project for the Intersections Festival March 8 & 9 at 7pm in the Sprenger Theater at Atlas on H St. NE Washington DC.

FUTURE PRELUDES is part of the Atlas' INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival. Peter DiMuro and fellow dance artists Asanga Domask, Christopher K. Morgan, Urban Artistry and NOW A NEW ADDED STAR among the constellation: ANNA MENENDEZ will perform their specific forms and genres of dance (including Hula, Sri Lankan, urban dances of all kinds, flamenco, dance/theatre) to the music of Rachmaninoff. The show is a tribute to "firsts"- preludes being the key - as the 19th century pianists would improvise and "sample" from their own and others music as a warmup to their own concerts. We'll do the same with movement- borrowing from each other, and making these 21st century preludes for a glorious future of dance.

This is the debut event of PDM: Public Displays of Motion.

Two shows; March 8 and 9, 7pm.

intersectionsdc.org for tickets

info:

peterdimuro@gmail.com

intersectionsdc.org

http://www.facebook.com/events/258540110885202/?ref=ts

Following the show on Friday night stay for the

11th Annual Metro DC Dance Awards!

http://www.facebook.com/events/198051980294299/

Urban Artistry, Coyaba Dance Theater, Megan Keefe, Bus Howard and Capitol Tap is a finalist for Best Overall Production -Large Venue for their work in "ORIGINS: One Heart Beat."

If you have not seen the project, check out the trailer by Megan Keefe at www.originsonehearthbeat.com