Cuba Goes Tap
About
Cuba Goes Tap is a project conceived and directed by Keyla Orozco, featuring acclaimed Austrian-American Tap dancer Max Pollak, creator of RumbaTap, a style that merges American Rhythm Tap with Afro-Cuban music and dance. Through the original and versatile dance style of Pollak and the wide-ranging abilities of the selected musicians, the show brings the audience a unique experience that defies what is commonly known about Cuban music and tap dance. Cuba Goes Tap presents classical and contemporary-classical Cuban music by composers from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, re-imagined with Tap improvisation. Central focus of the program is Orozco's Traveling Shoe Stories, a work especially written for Max Pollak and a chamber ensemble (made thanks to the financial support of the Dutch Performing Arts Fund), in which Cuban and Venezuelan folk music, western classical tradition, jazz, improvisation, and tap dance live harmoniously together. Written and improvised music and dance have equal roles in the show, which opens with a RumbaTap solo improvisation. The program may vary in length; slight modifications in the content may take place according to the context of each specific performance. Cuba Goes Tap had its world premiere on March 22nd, 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, at Werkgebouw Het Veem, presented by Essential Arts Foundation as a part of the Series ‘Toets des tijds’, and performed by the ensemble Camerata Cubana de Amsterdam. The US premiere took place on May 18th, 2018 at Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, as a part of 'Artes de Cuba' Festival. Featured composers
Manuel Saumell (1818-1870) Alejandro García Caturla (1906-1940) Carlos Fariñas (1934-2002) Keyla Orozco The Artists for the World Premiere
in Amsterdam, 2015 Gustavo Corrales Romero, piano Mariana Hutchinson, violin Tatiana Koleva, marimba/percussion David Kweksilber, clarinets Max Pollak, tap dancer Keyla Orozco, composition/artistic directon The Artists for the US Premiere at the Kennedy Center, DC, 2018
Ana Rosa Hernández, piano Ilmar Gavilán, violin Mariana Ramírez, percussion/conducting Diana Rosa Alvarez, clarinets Max Pollak, tap dancer Keyla Orozco, composition/keyboard/ artistic direction |
Videos
US Premiere, full performance.
Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center, during 'Artes de Cuba' Festival. May 18th, 2018. Or watch it at the Kennedy Center's website Selections from the World Premiere in Amsterdam. Werkgebouw Het Veem, March 22nd, 2015 'Traveling Shoe Stories' (Excerpts); Orozco
'Danza Lucumí'; A.G. Caturla
'Estudio del Pajarillo' (Excerpts); Orozco
Meet the artists who premiered CUBA GOES TAP. Amsterdam, 2015
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