Brooklyn-based Creative Outlet Dance Theatre
will celebrate its 10th anniversary, at 651 ARTS for three nights
– April 1-3 – with "Catch It!" a presentation that
includes an array of well-known performing artists and original
work by company choreographers.
The program will feature the work of founder and artistic director
Jamel Gaines, as well as Creative Outlet co-founders Kevin Joseph
and LaKai Worrell. But the centerpiece of the event will be a
performance with dance by noted Broadway singer and performer
Jennifer Holliday.
Tony award-winner Holliday, who first rose to prominence in the
original Broadway production of "Dreamgirls," will
join the celebration on opening night for a one-time-only performance.
Holliday met Gaines at the 2002 concert, "Romance in the
Dark," a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
"The show contained love songs from black Broadway musicals,"
Holliday told GO Brooklyn. "I did my songs from ’Dreamgirls’
– most people aren’t aware of how many love songs come from black
musicals – and I also did less familiar songs. I featured songs
by Harold Arlin, whose songs are about the black experience,
along with George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.
"To give the concert more variety I added dance. I chose
a piece from ’A Chorus Line’ because I wanted to do a dedication
to Michael Bennett, who put his career on the line and put up
his own money to do ’Dreamgirls,’" said Holliday. "I
needed someone to choreograph a piece to the song ’What I Did
for Love,’ and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS gave me Jamel’s
name. It was a perfect match. His piece got a standing ovation."
At that time, Holliday really didn’t get to know Gaines, but
last year, she did a smaller show with the choreographer. It
was then that she learned about his company’s work with children
and young people.
"I was deeply touched by their commitment to make their
community better," she said.
So when Gaines asked Holliday to be a part of Creative Outlet’s
10th anniversary celebration, Holliday was happy to oblige.
For the upcoming show at the BAM Harvey Theater, she will reprise
"What I Did for Love" and perform a new piece with
the dance company, "Give Us This Day," a prayer Edwin
Hawkins has rewritten for music.
"It will be a very spiritual moment. I’m glad they wanted
to include me in that moment," says Holliday, who will be
making her Brooklyn debut.
Said Gaines, "The concert will be filled with beautiful
music. We’re doing a tribute to Nina Simone [a multimedia dance
compilation with video footage], and a tribute to photographer
and graphic artist Tom Feeling."
Gaines’ "TOSS," was inspired by the late Feeling’s
book, "The Middle Passage."
The event will include "Journey to Freedom," a tribute
to Nelson Mandela; "Kissing After Dark," performed
by Anika Ellis of Broadway’s "Aida"; and "Shhhahhh,"
with Gaines’ wife, Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines, a principal with the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
"This celebration is not just about dance," said Gaines.
"Not only is this a celebration of art in every form – theater,
voice, poetry, film, music, space – it is also about the creation
of a community of artists, of cultural empowerment, and of institution
building. Since our beginning in 1994, CO has taken a multidisciplinary
approach to artistic development."
Gaines, the choreographer of the Obie-award winning "Black
Nativity," performed at East New York’s St. Paul’s Community
Baptist Church, was touring with Jubilation Dance Company when
he found he "needed to create a vehicle right here in Brooklyn."
With the support of St. Paul’s, Phyl’s Academy, in East Flatbush,
and hip-hop dancers Worrell and Joseph, Gaines founded Creative
Dance Outlet Theatre.
Today, the company supports four programs: a professional dance
company and a newly developed young artist troupe, a performing
arts program with 300 students, an arts and education program
in 25 schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and the Creative Outlet
Urban Summer Camp.
Creative Outlet Dance Theatre is currently headquartered in East
New York, but the proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to
renovate their new space at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,
at 85 S. Oxford St. in Fort Greene.
Gaines calls his style "modern ballet with an African-American
flair" and said he was influenced by Alvin Ailey, television,
musicals and his teacher, Kevin Jeff.
But his favorite work, he said, is about people. "Everyday
people – mom, dad, grandma and Uncle Joe."
651 Arts and Creative Dance Outlet Theatre
presents "Catch It!" April 1, April 2 and April 3,
at 8 pm. Tickets are $20, $30 and $40. 651 ARTS is located in
the BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. between Ashland Place
and Rockwell Place in Fort Greene. For reservations, call the
BAM box office at (718) 636-4100.
