

Five dancers appeared, fully covered in black hoodie jackets, sweatpants and dimly visible masks. The piece unfolded as if removing layers of personae, acknowledging past trauma and moving forward with self-knowledge and resolve. A lifeless person lying prostrate, for example, may be part of their collective experience, but such images shouldn’t limit the individual’s quest to fully realize their uniqueness. Imago confronts images and expectations that society projects on African Americans, Hawkains said. ( Disclosure: Hawkains is on the dance faculty of Kennesaw State University, where Perry teaches.) Hawkains said in his video interview Saturday that while he was creating the piece, he was thinking of a late uncle, a musician, whose experiences reflected “the trials and tribulations of being Black in America.” Hawkains III’s Imago was a harbinger of themes that reappeared throughout the evening. Cultural influences ranged from African to Filipino traditions and from ballet to House dancing to Chinese classical dance in a celebration of mostly Atlanta talent and Atlanta voices that rarely are given a platform to show their work.Įach of the evening’s choreographic voices resonated with unique tones as part of Atlanta’s vibrant cultural expression.īefore each piece began, a video introduced the work’s choreographer, who described their inspiration and creative approach.īilly J. Gwynn Root Wolford, partnered by Brandon Nguyen Hilton, in Wolford’s “Garden of Rift.”Ī diverse audience filled the theater Saturday evening as the performance shed light on stories that were often linked to family, community and personal identity. Additionally, a screening featuring new dance films by Anicka Austin, Marley Carter and Jodie Jernigan kicked off the series. This year’s production, which took place last weekend at the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, included two evenings of works by eight dance-makers as part of its Choreographer Career Development Initiative. We’ve focused in, surprise surprise, on a particularly nice banjo piece which we think you’ll really dig, dear reader.What does it mean to celebrate from the core of your being? What memories must be uncovered? What stories are revealed?Ĭhoreographers chosen for Dance Canvas’ 15th anniversary season asked these and other questions as they looked at life, especially the trials of the past three years, through a lens of celebration. It acts now as a “timecapsule” back to those days of pandemic isolation and the variety of inspiration it brought to Max Allard. These tunes were originally recorded and released to his Patreon subscribers in March 2021 when Max was looking for ways to keep himself interested and in contact with those who were interested in his music.
The classical guitar shed software#
And all are recorded using a condenser microphone and the recording software on Max’s laptop. Almost all instruments are played by Max, with an occasional guest appearance. This is somewhat more unpredictable in its approach with a mix of banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, harmonium, mandolin, and features the occasional xylophone, drum brush, maraca, slide whistle or wine glass. You’ll recall, no doubt, that we were pretty impressed by ‘ Odes / Codes‘ the 2022 release by Max Allard – well this year he has released a 31 track collection on Bandcamp called ‘ March Maxness‘ – it’s a tune for every day of the month.

Beautiful compositions and a very nice touch.” And if it’s good enough for Béla, then it’s good enough for Americana UK. Today’s contribution to the “ when we can it’s the Wednesday instrumental track” section comes from a musician of whom Béla Fleck has said “ A new mature and poetic voice on the 5 string banjo.
