Brinae Ali

photo by Todd Rosenthal

Grant Recipient

photo by Todd Rosenthal

Location

Baltimore, MD

Project Title

Baby Laurence Legacy Project

Fiscal Year Awarded

2023

Grant or Program

National Dance Project Production Grant

Grant Amount

$56,500

The Baby Laurence Legacy Project is an archival/performative process to create an integrated work of jazz tap dance and jazz music that investigates and celebrates the artistic and social influences that “Baby Laurence” Donald Jackson had on the culture of Tap Dance and Jazz Music. This project aims to capture and demystify lost information about this iconic tap dancer from Baltimore, MD. It will include new research from interviews, archival film, documentation tracing the footsteps of Baby Laurence in Baltimore, Harlem, and Washington D.C., and curricula for students and educators. Brinae Ali will present choreography, compositions, and multi-media in collaboration with fellow band members of the Baltimore Jazz Collective. This new work will culminate in an evening length performance, offer workshops and discussions to engage, educate, and uplift audiences, especially the African American community in Baltimore and beyond.

Land acknowledgement: I live and work on the land of the Susquehannock People.

Work

A Black woman, with a bleach blonde afro, dances in front of a band and a purple backdrop.

A Black woman, with a bleach blonde afro, dances in front of a band.

On a terrace, a Black woman, in a golden head wrap and pink dress, dances.

Interested in presenting this work?

See other projects with tour subsidy available

Step 1: Contact the Tour Coordinator

Contact the tour coordinator listed below for information on this project’s tour dates, and to discuss joining a project’s NDP tour and receiving a Presentation Grant.

Stacy Handler
Founder & CEO
stacy@bloomartsstrategy.com
tel. (305) 978-0870
Bloom Arts Strategy

Step 2: Apply for a Presentation Grant

LEARN MORE

The following organizations have partnered with this project:

American Tap Dance Foundation (New York, NY)
Apollo Theater Education (New York, NY)
Chicago Human Rhythm Project (Chicago, IL)
Creative Alliance (Baltimore, MD)
Eubie Blake Cultural Arts Center (Baltimore, MD)
Inheritance Baltimore: JHU Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts (Baltimore, MD)
Jubilee Arts (Baltimore, MD)
Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory of Music and Dance (Baltimore, MD)
M.A.D.D. Rhythms (Chicago, IL)
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ)
Tapology, Inc. (Flint, MI)