Boston University Dance Program is pleased to host, LaTasha Barnes, as artist-in-residence on March 18-22. Awarded a 2021 Bessie for Outstanding Performer, LaTasha Barnes is an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, educator, and tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance from Richmond, VA. Her visit will culminate with a free informal performance on Thursday, March 21, 9-10 p.m., at the BU Dance Theater, presented in collaboration with student-run Dance Theatre Group (DTG). This residency is made possible as a collaboration with the BU Dance Program, DTG, Friends of Dance Theatre Group, and BU Arts Initiative.
The showcase will include: an improvisational score on DTG students; choreography set by Barnes for DTG and Dance minors; select video excerpts of her performances and choreography; a Q&A session. Throughout her five days in residence, Barnes will share her knowledge and extensive research on Black Vernacular Social Dance with our students in select PDP and CFA classes, the BU Community, and the general public. She will be providing a valuable opportunity to learn about the connections between community and academic practices and address how we maintain authentic cultural context and acknowledge Black dance traditions.
LaTasha is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Vernacular Jazz, and Lindy Hop, among them. Barnes’ is a frequent collaborator to Dorrance Dance, Singapore-based Timbre Arts Group, Ephrat Asherie Dance, and many more. The NY Times said of her most recent collaboration with Caleb Teicher Swing Out: “Barnes is especially extraordinary for the way the past and the present can pass through her…”
Barnes holds a Masters in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies through New York University Gallatin School (2019) and researches bridging the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation, and pedagogy. She is part of the Brain Trust that developed the stage production Swing Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop. Barnes is the Artistic Director of the intergenerational and intercommunal cultural arts experience The Jazz Continuum, that recently performed at the Kennedy Center. Barnes is a contributing author to Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century (University Press of Florida). As Assistant Professor of Dance at Arizona State University, she continues to inspire fellow artists to champion activism through cultivating an authentic sense of self and intention in their creative expressions and daily lives.