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Camille A. Brown & Dancers is committed to engaging audiences and empowering communities through dance and dialogue, both nationally and internationally. We pride ourselves not only in presenting authentic performances, but also in creating safe spaces that foster collective learning and individual growth.

“Camille A. Brown & Dancers makes them [students] excited to try.”
— Aurora Barnes, Founder of Girlstalk/Guystalk Program

“Not only a well thought out project implemented by Camille A. Brown & Dancers; it is an overall experience… powerful social impact”
— Michelle Durante, Director of Arts at Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation

“Hands on, personal and relevant… The satisfaction and pride our students exhibited after the workshops was the real indicator of how connected they were to Camille and the work”
— James O’Brien, Principal at Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School

WORKSHOPS

MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE — MORNING COMMUNITY CLASS

Facilitator: Timothy Edwards
Timothy L. Edwards, a Hawaii native, is an internationally recognized dance instructor known for his master classes. He has traveled as a cultural envoy teaching and performing in various street styles. Mr. Edwards is a graduate and adjunct dance professor at Hunter College, and is also on the faculty at The Joffrey Ballet, The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center, and Brooklyn Ballet. He made his Broadway debut in 2016 in the production of Cabin In The Sky and is a proud member of Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

D.R.E.A.M. RING XPERIENCE

Facilitators: Shelby "Shellz" Felton and Ringmaster Corey
D.R.E.A.M. Ring Xperience participants will learn about the history of Flexn, the foundational dance styles of Flexn bruk-up and dancehall and some of the Flexn dance styles such as connecting, and grooving through choreography. Flexn is an improvisational dance form that encourages individuality, so all participants will be challenged to incorporate their personality, emotions, characters, and personal dance style into the Flexn choreography.

THE D.R.E.A.M. RING (DANCE RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME), founded in 2011 by Reggie Gray and Jason Cust,isa community-oriented performance and competition company that showcases and supports artists that embody the Brooklyn born street dance style, Flexing. The D.R.E.A.M. RING provides youth with a safe environment to express their artistry and a wealth of opportunities for sharing their creativity with the community—such as performing in schools and teaching in after school programs. Professional development is also a core goal of the company, as the D.R.E.A.M. RING provides guidance and resources for young artists to learn how to display their talents through social media marketing, branding, artist reels, and dance videos, cultivating the skills needed to build careers in the dance industry. D.R.E.A.M. inspires, educates, and communicates through dance. We aspire to build character and develop creative individuals that are community-oriented and produce social change by using their talents.

D.R.E.A.M. RING artists create bodies of work that showcase creativity and team work through tag-team and two-man performances. TAG-TEAM performances consist of groups of quartets whose goal is to choreograph duets, within the group, that highlight each other’s styles and narratives individually and collectively. TWO-MAN performances are duets that showcase artists with the same or complimenting styles and their goal is to choreograph a body of work that exemplifies those styles through a singular narrative. These artists use the creative and improvisational expressions of FLEXING such as pauzin, connecting, get low/floor, bone-breaking, hat tricks, and gliding and other dance styles that influence them such as krumping, ballet, modern, and housing to become the storytellers of their generation.

IF YOU CAN TALK YOU CAN SING, IF YOU CAN MOVE YOU CAN DANCE

Facilitator: Tendayi Kuumba
Tendayi Kuumba is a graduate of North Atlanta High School of Performing Arts and Spelman College. Her training ranges from Buffalo Inner City Ballet, Ballethnic, Callanwolde Fine Arts, and Moving in the Spirit. Currently, Tendayi is a company member of Urban Bush Women, ASE Dance Theater Collective, and Axam Dance Theater Experience. Past works include Liberata Dance Theater, Marjani Forte of LOVE/FORTE Collective, T Lang Dance, and Nathan Trice/Rituals Performance Project StrangeLove. Tendayi performs regularly as a resident Jazz vocalist at the Williamsburg Music Center with the Gerry Eastman Quartet every Friday night. She gives thanks and blessings for life, love, breath, and the pursuit of happiness.

Workshop Description: This exploration of movement and song embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for “every body” to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. Participants will also engage in song: spiritually and emotionally and to discover historical reference points that increase our understanding of the power of song. This is a class designed for the community so no prior dance or music experience is needed.

(RE)MEMORY MUSCLE

Facilitator: Audrey Elaine Hailes
Audrey Elaine Hailes is a dance-theatre artist raised in Washington DC. Committed to public performance as a necessary tool for wellness and revolution, she received a BFA in Experimental Theatre from NYU and is a 2013 Laundromat Project Professional Development Fellow. Audrey is a teaching artist, performer with the Dance Cartel and co-host of the women-run radio show Hip Hop and Her Family. Her work was recently commissioned by Gibney Dance and Dance Theatre Etc. Operating in the blessing of abundance, the support, fortification and history shared by family is the fuel behind her practice.

Workshop Description: Participants will source movement from pedestrian gestures found in their immediate family to build phrases about migration (social, geographic, economic, spiritual) and perseverance.

A JOURNEY THROUGH JUBA AND OTHER SOCIAL DANCES

Rooted in the African-American vernacular, this movement workshop led by Camille A. Brown or a member of CABD celebrates the power of African-American social dance and its impact and influence on American dance forms throughout history. Using JUBA (“pattin juba”) as a jumping off point, participants are taken on a social dance journey. From “the wing” to “the whip”, attendees investigate the ways communities used movement as a way of protest, liberation, and/or healing. By learning about the past, it is Camille’s hope that the spirit of expression through movement is embodied in our present day – providing the individual with a platform to celebrate their identity and to share their personal expression with the community of participants. All levels and all ages are welcome.

DOUBLE THIS, JUBA THAT!

Participants will learn sections from Camille A. Brown’s BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play. In this work, Brown uses the rhythmic play of African-American dance vernacular including social dancing, double dutch, steppin’, tap, Juba, ring shout, and gesture to evoke childhood memories of self-discovery. The rhythmic play of Double Dutch serves as an entry point to the rhythms and movements of social dances that are culturally, individually, and politically rooted. Led by Camille A. Brown and/or Catherine Foster, CABD member, participants will learn the musical compositions of Hip Hop, Reggae, and African infused in the work and the connection between handclap games and “pattin’ juba”. It is Camille’s hope that the spirit of play is embodied and provides a platform for the individual to celebrate their identity. All levels and all ages are welcome.

Interested in hosting a workshop in your community or organization? Contact Managing Director Indira Goodwine at igoodwine@camilleabrown.org.