Ten years ago, I had just made my first handful of longer (10-20 minutes) choreographic works. Like a lot of just-starting-out choreographers, I was so exhilarated and so tired and just trying to build mountains on ant-hill budgets.
So, when
@frandpapa curated me onto the
@gibneydance DoublePlus program, I said “No more big casts and massive schedule spreadsheets. I’m taking this small commissioning fee, and I’m gonna make a 25-minute duet with someone… But with whom?”
So I emailed Nathan Bugh
@bughthere , a dancer who had left an impression on me while dancing in the Lindy Hop company, Syncopated City (shoutout
@themichaeljagger and
@evita_in_sync ). I was still a baby Lindy Hopper, but I hoped that, if Nathan and I put our heads together, we might come up with something.
“Meet Ella”, our first work together, started one of the most meaningful artistic partnerships of my life. It also led to a deeper personal investment of myself in jazz idioms outside of Tap Dance. Meet Ella was also the prototype that galvanized
@swingout.show and, more broadly, a greater intersection of Lindy Hop on the concert stage and with schmancy arts organizations.
So, while I usually consider anniversary outings a bit too navel-gaze-y for my taste, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of Meet Ella next month with a re-staging for ten of my favorite jazz dancers.
June 10th / Lincoln Center, NYC
@lincolncenter / Free / Outdoors
“Meet Ella” starring:
Me!
Nathan!
@gabyswingsout
@tasha_b_va
@lauraglaess
@i.am.timchristopher
@briantlawton
@bbnorm782
@johnmanzari
@funmi.sofola
swing dance party with live music by
@eyal_vilner_big_band + a one-night-only performance of Meet Ella.
See you there ❤️
(Studio video by
@scottshaw.photo
Theater shots of Meet Ella by Em Watson, costumes by
@mariontalandelarosacostumes
Music: “That Old Black Magic” Ella Fitzgerald
#lindyhop
#jazzdance
