Lafayette College, Williams Center for the Arts

The Williams Center for the Arts will present one public performance of LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum; and provide one masterclass for advanced dance students in one of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent College’s dance programs. Centering the prolific artistry of Jazz music and dance as a cornerstone of Black American culture and community, The Jazz Continuum’s intergenerational and multi-disciplinary cast of Black dancers and musicians perform LaTasha Barnes’ original choreography and music in a survey of 100 years of Black artistry. The performance connects the past to today’s music and dance expressions such as House, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Line Dances, and Lindy Hop; and honors the influence of Black dance elders, including Norma Miller, Frankie Manning, Earl Snakehips Tucker, Marie Bryant, Marjory Smarth, and many others. Jazz vocalist and music director Charles Turner leads the onstage band and DJ in this “generous, joyful elixir of an experience” (Boston Globe).