A Slice of Harlem
July 2007
Jump n Jive: Habibat Ajayi, Emma Radowsky, Makida Ellis and Toni Thorp are the Cotton Club girls in our production of 'Harlem Nights' at the Young Vic.
The Young Vic Theatre Festival took place on 3 July 2007. This is an annual opportunity for Lambeth and Southwark schools and colleges to perform on their main stage, with all the facilities of a professional theatre at their disposal. The Festival aims to involve young people in all aspects of their productions, working towards developing the skills, ambition and confidence needed to be the theatre-makers of the future.
Performing Arts students from Lambeth College topped the bill with their piece inspired by ‘Jazz Dance: the Story of Vernacular Jazz Dance’ (1994) by Marshall and Jean Stearns, with the music of Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, Cab Callaway, Pharaoh Sanders and poetry from Gil Scot-Heron’s ‘Paint it Black’.
The production examined the identity and heritage of vernacular Jazz dance. It brought alive the music, dance and politics of the underworld prevalent in turbulent but glamorous 1930s Harlem.
Bootlegged: Sugar Ray (Derek Jellow) is threatened by Smokey Two Barrels (Leke Okenla).
Sugar Ray, Capo of all Harlem bootleggers, pondered ‘Is she is or is she ain’t my baby?’ with show-stopping jazz vocals, aside the hilarious buffoonery of Crazy Vinnie played by Leo Alfonso, Snake Hip Tucker played by Victoria Santos Albert, and Smokey Two Barrels played by Leke Okenla.
Slick contemporary re-workings of classical jazz motifs presented the stylistic continuity of Black Diaspora dance styles as the scene moved to the Cotton Club and to the Hoofers Club on 125th and Lennox.
Here the audience were enthralled by the jive and jumps of a 15-person line up of young dancers aged 12 years and upwards from the New Peckham Variety Theatre’s junior dance company who collaborated with Lambeth College for this production.
Following on, the reality of what happened to the artists of this time was presented through fast moving physical theatre fused with the relentless riffs and rolls of skilled tap dancers, to the poignant words of Gil Scot-Heron.
The audience’s response was tremendous and included comments such as: “really, really brilliant...”, “terrific dancing, great singing, funny and serious!” Tutor Kathryn Culbert said: “I was so pleased that our students harnessed their energy to present a very exciting, engaging performance. They worked generously and creatively with all members of this mixed cast to present a performance we can all be proud of”.
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