Open Call for Tap Dancers for City-Wide Open Studios Project
Open call for tap dancers with at least 1-2 years of experience:
Alexis Robbins, tap and contemporary choreographer and Artistic Director of kamrDANCE, is looking for 3-4 tap dancers with at least 1-2 years of rhythm tap experience for her upcoming project Generations of Rhythm, commissioned by Artspace for their annual City-Wide Open Studios festival. This performance piece is designed for 6-7 dancers and will be 25 minutes long.
About the Project
Generations of Rhythm is a collaborative tap dance performance that brings together racially diverse dancers on opposing ends of the age spectrum to (ranging from 17 to 65+ years old). The performance will include unison movement with all dancers, variations of traditional historical dances such as the Shim Sham Shimmy and the BS Chorus, duets between older and younger dancers, improvisations, and spoken word/stories shared aloud. The piece will primarily be performed a capella, but some sections will be accompanied by live musicians. The selected dancers will collaborate and inform the piece, trading embodied notes, memories and moves with each other.
This performance will take place on the street and sidewalk outside of Artspace (50 Orange Street, New Haven), which will be open to pedestrian-only traffic, to celebrate the Opening Night of their annual City-Wide Open Studios festival on Friday, October 4, 6-9pm. Town Green is also mounting a Night Market on Friday, featuring local vendor, so we anticipate a crowd of around 1,000 visitors. The entire event will be free and open to the public. Each dancer will be provided with a plywood board that will magnify the sound of their tap shoes, and can easily be moved and manipulated throughout the piece.
Who We’re Looking For, Schedule & Stipend
This performance specifically seeks 1-2 dancers of color that are 55 years of age and older, as well as 1-2 dancers of any race that are 21 years of age and up. Dancers must be available for a meeting in late July and a few rehearsals throughout August and September, all of which are TBD and will depend on the mutual availability of the participants’ schedules. Dancers must be available for the performance on Friday, October 4th from 2-8 PM (this includes set up, tech rehearsal, and show). Participants will be provided a stipend of $150 and the option to take free tap classes for the duration of the project (valued at $150). Artspace will hire a professional photographer to document the performance, and provide all participants with a set of images. Artspace will also promote this performance on their social media platforms, and link to performers’ websites/bios as mutually agreed upon between the performer and the organization. If you have tap dance experience but are in need of tap shoes, please let us know in your application.
To apply, or to request more information, please contact Alexis Robbins at kamrdanceco@gmail.com. You can also visit her website to see examples of her work and teaching schedule.