TDRN UK Online Talk Series: Duke Ellington’s Dancers – The Women

Mar 23, 2024

TUES 23 April 2024 18:00 – 19:30 BST | 10:00 PDT | 13:00 EDT | 19:00 CEST  £6 / PWYC

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Join Allana Radecki as she shares her ongoing research into the careers of Duke Ellington and his collaborators. This session delves into the fascinating life stories of Aida Overton Walker, Elida Webb, Fredi & Isobel Washington and Marie Bryant. 

Learn how their different careers evolved over time spanning performance, teaching, social activism and community building. We celebrate their triumphs, and learn more about the tribulations they faced in coping with colorism, sexism, racial and professional prejudice. These women and more will be the subject of this webinar, featuring photos, music and film clips to celebrate and appreciate the dancers who performed with Duke Ellington.

More about the dancers featured – 

Aida Overton Walker – dancer, choreographer, teacher, ACTIVIST! – Artistic Matriarch of Jazz Dancers. She established herself among the upper crust of White New York society, teaching the Cakewalk to society people in the U.S. and abroad. Her talents infused all the Williams and Walker musicals and influenced Elida Webb, Grace Glies and everyone who came into her circle.

Elida Webb – dancer, choreographer, Harlem-born, lineage keeper of Aida Overton, nurtured and trained women dancers for over twenty years. Webb received formal dance training growing up. Her credits include Shuffle Along, Runnin’ Wild, Showboat and choreographer at the Club Alabam and the Cotton Club. She codified the Charleston and helped compose “Stormy Weather.”

Fredi and Isabel Washington – These extraordinary, multi-talented, socially conscious sisters took advantage of opportunities and dealt with setbacks. 

Marie Bryant – Dancer, singer, choreographer, great influencer of jazz dance, student of Mary Bruce and Katherine Dunham, invested in social change from childhood. 

Also mentioned are: Bessie Dudley, Cora La Redd, Maude Russell, Carmen De Lavallade, Mildred Dixon.

About Allana

Artist, educator and performer, Allana Radecki has a BA in Fine Arts and MA in African American, African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University. Her research focuses on the interlocking roots and culture of jazz music and dance through autobiography and oral history. Her current book project examines the multi-faceted relationship between Duke Ellington and jazz dance, with an emphasis on tap dancers. A noted teacher of Hatha Yoga, Rhythm Tap and Modern Dance since 1986, she has taught thousands of classes to thousands of people of all ages. As a jazz tap dancer, Allana loves to improvise and also explores West African and Afro- Brazilian percussion including many years with Women of Mass Percussion and five seasons with the Indiana University Brazilian Ensemble.

TDRN UK Online Talk Series: Tap Dance Pedagogy Research – Exploring an Oral Tradition

Feb 27, 2024

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Sunday 24 March 2024 18:00 – 19:30 GMT | 11:00 PDT | 14:00 EDT | 19:00 CEST £6 / PWYC

Dr Trish Melton will share an extract of her research and discuss how her role as an academic researcher, tap dancer, and cultural surrogate supports this ethnographic exploration of tap dance pedagogy.

Biography

Trish is a tap dance educator, researcher and choreographer. She runs a community-based dance school and a tap dance performance group: The Kerry Tap Ensemble. Trish also runs a global project management consultancy. A professional background in teaching and training in project management is entirely transferable to all aspects of her professional life.

Her key research area is tap dance pedagogy. She completed an MA (Distinction) in dance education with the RAD/Bath University. Her research explored the narratives of tap dance teaching: the oral history passed down through the Tap Masters and reviewed what this means for teaching today through practical action research.

Her current research interests continue to be tap dance pedagogy with one area of focus being the use of tap dance repertory in teaching and how the historical and cultural perspectives can enhance the learning experience. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Tap Dance Pedagogy at The Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) Coventry University UK.