‘Fresh Water’ Flows in Port of Spain - World Premiere of New Work by Choreographer Makeda Thomas
http://www.caribbeanpressreleases.com/articles/358/1/Fresh-Water-Flows-in-Port-of-Spain---World-Premiere-of-New-Work-by-Choreographer-Makeda-Thomas/Page1.html
S Coward
By S Coward
Published on 04-Sep-06
New York---4 Sept. 2006---On 7 October 2006 at Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Port of
Spain, New York/Trinidad choreographer Makeda Thomas will premiere
‘Fresh Water’, a new dance work.
Part of GALVANIZE festival
New York---4 Sept. 2006---On 7 October 2006 at Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Port of
Spain, New York/Trinidad choreographer Makeda Thomas will premiere
‘Fresh Water’, a new dance work. ‘Fresh Water’ features the music of
Ella Andall, Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Marley with live performances by
Nantambu Drummers (San Fernando). Tickets can be reserved at CCA7,
Fernandes Industrial Centre, Eastern Main Road, Laventille, Port of
Spain 625-1889. The performance begins at 7pm with Guest Speaker, Hazel
Franco and culminates with a post-performance discussion.
The world premiere of ‘Fresh Water’ is part of the First GALVANIZE Festival, a month-long series of arts programmes based in Port of Spain. GALVANIZE runs from 14 September – 26 October 2006. CCA 7 is a regional developmental arts organization; home of Trinidad’s first contemporary arts centre and the InterAmericas Space, a programme of the New York Foundation of the Arts.
‘Fresh Water’ is a highly anticipated solo work that takes its title from the Trinidadian term for someone who talks, dresses or acts American without having gone overseas (crossing salt water). The term also describes someone who may have been overseas, but may be reminded that they are still Caribbean. The work was created in the midst of the choreographer’s return home after 20 years living abroad. As such, ‘Fresh Water’ is a deeply personal work, set in the stage of a mystical, multilayered culture of compelling depth of breadth and scope. By using dance, storytelling, and music, Makeda Thomas engages a contemporary performance aesthetic drawn from indigenous traditions, gives voice to a unique cultural experience, and demonstrates why ‘fresh water’ is also the one resource humans depend on to survive.
Makeda Thomas is the Artistic Director of Makeda Thomas/Dance Projects, which has presented work at Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cine Teatro Africa in Maputo, and Chicago’s Links Hall, among others. Ms. Thomas has developed work as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S Department of State and received awards from the U.S. Embassy, The Puffin Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Bossak–Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Arts International, Inc., Yellowfox Foundation and the National AIDS Council. In 2004, she was named Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança of Mozambique.
As a performer, Makeda Thomas toured internationally in the companies of Rennie Harris/Puremovement, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, and independently with Robin Becker, Lula Washington Dance Theater, Stephen Koplowitz and Trebien Pollard. Ms. Thomas has conducted artistic residencies, arts-in-education projects, and research projects throughout the United States, Hawaii, South Africa, and The Netherlands. Ms. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and English Literature from Hofstra University.
Doors open at 6:30pm, with the performance beginning promptly at 7pm on Saturday, 7 October 2006. For further information, please email mtdanceprojects@msn.com.
The world premiere of ‘Fresh Water’ is part of the First GALVANIZE Festival, a month-long series of arts programmes based in Port of Spain. GALVANIZE runs from 14 September – 26 October 2006. CCA 7 is a regional developmental arts organization; home of Trinidad’s first contemporary arts centre and the InterAmericas Space, a programme of the New York Foundation of the Arts.
‘Fresh Water’ is a highly anticipated solo work that takes its title from the Trinidadian term for someone who talks, dresses or acts American without having gone overseas (crossing salt water). The term also describes someone who may have been overseas, but may be reminded that they are still Caribbean. The work was created in the midst of the choreographer’s return home after 20 years living abroad. As such, ‘Fresh Water’ is a deeply personal work, set in the stage of a mystical, multilayered culture of compelling depth of breadth and scope. By using dance, storytelling, and music, Makeda Thomas engages a contemporary performance aesthetic drawn from indigenous traditions, gives voice to a unique cultural experience, and demonstrates why ‘fresh water’ is also the one resource humans depend on to survive.
Makeda Thomas is the Artistic Director of Makeda Thomas/Dance Projects, which has presented work at Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cine Teatro Africa in Maputo, and Chicago’s Links Hall, among others. Ms. Thomas has developed work as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S Department of State and received awards from the U.S. Embassy, The Puffin Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Bossak–Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Arts International, Inc., Yellowfox Foundation and the National AIDS Council. In 2004, she was named Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança of Mozambique.
As a performer, Makeda Thomas toured internationally in the companies of Rennie Harris/Puremovement, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, and independently with Robin Becker, Lula Washington Dance Theater, Stephen Koplowitz and Trebien Pollard. Ms. Thomas has conducted artistic residencies, arts-in-education projects, and research projects throughout the United States, Hawaii, South Africa, and The Netherlands. Ms. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and English Literature from Hofstra University.
Doors open at 6:30pm, with the performance beginning promptly at 7pm on Saturday, 7 October 2006. For further information, please email mtdanceprojects@msn.com.