Tagged Dance Pioneer

Jenai Cutcher honoring Brenda Bufalino

The Tap Renaissance became a very different opportunity for audiences to get deeper into our rhythms and forms. Tap stopped being seen as just entertainment but as a real art-form — which it always was. -Brenda Bufalino Sifting through books and digital searches, I came across numerous images and fact about Brenda Bufalino and her…

Jacqueline Sinclair recaptured as Joel Hall

“I instill in my dancers the discipline of proper training, but I also let them know they have a voice—a voice that shows where they came from—and I want to hear it.” -Joel Hall Born and raised in Chicago, where he still resides, Joel Hall started his life in dance as a teenager under the…

Janelle Smith-Ings celebrating Katherine Dunham

“I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.” -Katherine Dunham A movement pioneer, Katherine Dunham brought forth the use of ethnic choreography in a European dominated dance world.  As a young girl born and raised in Chicago, Katherine spent her time singing in church and earned her…