Bill Evans, Visiting Professor and Guest Artist in the Department of Dance at the College of Brockport since 2004 has announced two special summertime campus dance performances. The first will be Bill Evans’ Brockport Rhythm Tap/Jazz Jam on Thursday, July 9th only at 8:00 p.m.
Rhythm Tap/Jazz Jam features Bill Evans (named one of the country's three top tap artists by Dance Magazine), jazz pianist James J. Kaufmann, rhythm tap artists Courtney World and Leah Fox and guest artist Andrea Vazquez. It will be performed in the New York Room of Cooper Hall, corner of Adams Street (New Campus Drive) and Kenyon Street, The College at Brockport, State University of New York.
Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 college and secondary school students, $5 children 12 and under and will be available at the door only, after 7:00 p.m. on July 9th. The performance is 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission.
If you missed this show at it’s recent, highly-acclaimed run at Rochester’s Downstairs Cabaret Theatre (I didn't...it was great!), this is your chance to see why audiences responded so enthusiastically.
Rhythm Tap/Jazz Jam includes classic rhythm tap dances performed to live jazz music as a tribute to the great African American artists who created the art form, including Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Charles “Honi” Coles, Charles “Cholly” Atkins, James “Buster” Brown and Eddie Brown. Other works include Evans choreography to George Gershwin’s Preludes and Horace Silver’s Song for My Father, as well as his signature a cappella pieces Blues for my Father and Yes, Indeed! Mr. Evans was named one of the USA’s three favorite tap dance artists in the most recent Dance Magazine Readers Poll (along with Savion Glover and Brenda Bufalino). He is known for his dynamic range, expressiveness, musicality and sense of humor. Evans has collaborated with Courtney World, Leah Fox and James J. Kaufmann since 2004, and they have developed a refined, elegant and highly entertaining program with a remarkable range of moods and styles. Here are some notices about Bill Evans and the performances from elsewhere:
- “Chicago Tap Theatre’s loving tribute to [69]-year-old modern-rhythmic dance barrier breaker Bill Evans is an experience of intimate and symphonic proportions….His breadth of experience in ballet, modern and tap dance has molded Evans into a uniquely lyrical-percussive artist. And while fusion might be an easy buzzword to slap onto his merging of styles, he more accurately melds each discipline into the other so that only movement—with no titles attached—remains.” —Lucia Mauro, Chicago Tribune
- “What a treat to see a master choreographer such as he in the full maturity of his performing career.” —Wayne Lee, Washington Times
- “Evans knows how to entertain, and he does it in such a distinct and personal way that by evening’s end every fan should feel almost like a friend . . . . He is quite simply a master of his craft, and if anything he gets better with age. He does it all and it is this kind of versatility that allows him to go it alone for an evening with such success.”—Helen Forsberg, Salt Lake Tribune
- “Evans' style simultaneously brought smiles and tears to the audience as he danced for the joy of dance. And between pieces, the intimate performance got more cozy as he addressed the audience and gave little anecdotes of the works and his life as a dancer. His brilliant efforts were rewarded with a standing ovation at the end of the evening.”—Scott Iwasaki, Salt Lake Deseret News
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