Urban Jazz Dance Company Class

This class is part of Travel Through Dance, a week long series classes organized by Dance for All Bodies and Wheel the World. Together, we bring a virtual, accessible and engaging travel experience to you through using music, dance and culture. Join us for a week of classes that will take you from the Bronx to the South of Spain, and through many more eras and cultures. All our classes are taught and designed to be inclusive to people of all abilities. If you have any questions about accessibility, please email danceforallbodies@gmail.com. 

Does your spirit feel like something is missing, do you need a place to express yourself, want to build a stronger core physically and spiritually without over extending yourself, need to dance with live drum? Then you came to right place.  Beginner or professional this class is for everyone. It's not how high you kick but why you kick! 

Urban Jazz Dance is a convergence of artistic forces where RAW energy, ROOTED in FREEDOM, is expressed through the athletic BODY and UNCONTROLLABLE, PASSIONATE  dance.  Expect Ballet, Afro movement, plus more and even American Sign Language...the power of expression must be real.  Taught by Award winning Deaf Dancer Antoine Hunter (hearing and Deaf are welcome to take the class).

ASL INTERPRETER PROVIDED.

Zoom Link Information:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89965541530?pwd=RTE4ZDF2NjUySFh2K3ByeWc0L0t3Zz09

Meeting ID: 899 6554 1530

Password: 6cfhVR

The class is free, but we have a suggested donation of $5-15. Consider donating here: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/dance-for-all-bodies 

About the Instructor:

Bay Area native, Antoine Hunter also known as Purple Fire Crow is an award-winning Internationally-known African-American, Indigenous, Deaf, Disable, choreographer, dancer, actor, instructor, speaker, Producer and Deaf advocate. He creates opportunities for Disable, Deaf and hearing artists and produces Deaf-friendly events, and founded the Urban Jazz Dance Company and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival.  

Antoine has received numerous grants and awards including the inaugural Jeanette Lomujo Bremond Award for Humanity, Isadora Duncan (Izzie) for Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival, and SF King of Carnaval.  Antoine’s work has been performed globally, most recently in the Turkey, UK and Russia. He has lectured across the U.S. including at Kennedy Center’s VSA, Harvard and Duke University, and the National Assembly of State Arts. In 2019 alone, his company Urban Jazz Dance Company, an ensemble of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers, performed for and engaged more than 4,200 schoolchildren. His shoe company DropLabs and Susan Paley just released an innovative product to help people feel music through their shoes. He is Vice President of Deaf Counseling, Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA's) Board. DCARA is a non-profit, community-based social service agency serving the deaf community. Established in 1962 as one of the first deaf-run agencies in the country. www.RealUrbanJazzDance.com

Dance for All Bodies is a non-profit providing dance classes for people of all abilities. Wheel the World is an organization which empower people with disabilities to explore the world without limits! They do this by offering accessible travel experiences in +40 destinations around the world. 

Jazz Dance is a performance dance technique and style that first emerged in the United States in the early twentieth century.  Jazz Dance may refer to vernacular jazz or to Broadway or theatrical jazz.  Both genres build on African American vernacular styles of dancing that emerged  with jazz music.  The origin of jazz dance can be traced to African ritual and celebratory dances from around the seventeenth century. These dances emphasized polyrhythm and improvisation.