Jamal Jackson Dance Company

TEETH

NOV 9-11 , 2023
8PM
NOV 16-18, 2023
8PM

Runtime: 45 minutes with no intermission

Teeth is a dance and theater work that takes a classroom of young students on a journey to explore their identities, experiences, and roles in shaping the United States of America during its quest for independence at the end of the 18th century.

During their Curriculum Study Unit on George Washington, Ona, William, Giles, and Margaret are visited by a Griot Tooth Fairy. They are transported in time where they see their connections to the Battle of Trenton, the various communities within the 13 colonies, as well as their close relationships with Martha and George.

Artistic Director: Jamal Jackson
Director: Jessica Natalie Smith
Director: Birgitta Victorson
Music Collaborator: Christiana Haakansson
Lighting Design: Matt Morris

Performers:

Dianna Anderson-Guerrero
Rebecca Greenbaum
Jamal Jackson
Herne Jean-Baptiste
Anne Later
Brion Vann

Bridget Cohen
Chase Jackson
Walden Krauser
Noll Marquis
Austen Vega Smith
Aila Zeitlin

Music Selections By: Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté, Gang Starr, The ARC Choir, Jay Z, J. Cole, and James Brown, with vocals by Christiana Haakansson, Jessica Natalie Smith, Michael Crane, Sherwyn Smith

Jamal Jackson Dance Company (JJDC) was founded with the purpose of fusing various Traditional African dance styles with Modern techniques and diverse contemporary music styles to create a new, unique technique that is relevant to a multifarious community. The movement and storylines of JJDC choreography focus on redefining ideas of community and blurring divisive lines, while still celebrating the beauty of individual cultures.

The company’s work has been presented at venues including: Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, NYC Summerstage Concert Series, Dance Now Festival, Triskelion Arts, Battery Downtown Dance Festival, Brown University, Brooklyn Museum, Equality Now’s 20th Anniversary, ADF in Austin, TX, The Yard in Martha’s Vineyard, MA, Performance Spaces for the 21st Century in Chatham, NY, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pitt., PA, GSUSA National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Abundance Festival in Karlstad, Sweden, 92nd street Y, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Jamal Jackson - Artistic Director

Jamal Jackson, was born in Brooklyn, New York and began his formal studies of movement with the Harlem based Batoto Yetu Dance Company. His pursuit of dance led him to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he received the Weston Award for his contribution to the Fusion Dance Company and New Works/ World Traditions African Dance Company from 1996-2000. Jamal studied with Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, Seydou Coulibaly, and Fred Benjamin and worked under M’ba Coulibaly, Salimata Soumare from Kelete Dance Theatre, and Ba Issa Diallo, director of Troupe District du Bamako in Mali, West Africa. Jamal choreographed for the New York Arts Festival and Inaya Day in 2002, marking the beginning of his African based, modern technique. Jamal performed with Ballet International Africans for two seasons as a principal dancer and in 2004 he founded the Jamal Jackson Dance Company. Jamal Jackson Dance Company has established a strong presence in and out of New York City, performing year-round in festivals, self-produced shows, community outreach programs and private events.

Hercules Posey

Walden Krauser - Performer

Herne Jean-Baptiste is a New York City-based artist from Miami, Florida. He was inspired in sixth grade to dance under the direction of the Ailey Camp Miami summer program for two years. For six years, he trained at RickyDanco on a full scholarship. He later attended the New World School of the Arts while participating at Armour Youth Ballet Conservatory. He also attended the Dance Theatre of Harlem for two summers on scholarship. He then continued his higher education at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, pursuing a B.F.A. in Dance, where he graduated in Spring 2022 on full scholarship. He is a former apprentice dancer at PonyBox Dance Company, performed with Amahl Opera production, Peter London Global Dance Company and is currently with Jamal Jackson Dance Company. Herne is beyond excited to dance for Jamal Jackson Dance Company for his second season

Herne Jean-Baptiste - Artist

William Lee

Chase Jackson - Performer

Dianna Anderson-Guerrero - Artist

Dianna Anderson-Guerrero began dancing in New Jersey at the age of four. She has a BA in English Literature from Brown University, an MFA in Dance from New York University and a MST in Special and General Education. She has performed works by David Parsons, José Limón, Kangi Segawa, Sean Curran, Shani Collins and, Lisa Race. She has also participated in repertory with Ronald K. Brown, Keith Thompson, Dianne McIntyre and David Dorfman. A mom of two not so little ones, Dianna is currently a Principal at a high school in Trenton, NJ and enjoys the time she gets to spend in the studio and on stage with the company.

Martha Washington

Ona Judge

Aila Zeitlin - Performer

Brion Vann – Artist

Thank you to Saint Ann’s School, Pierrepont School, The Smith, Tokmakova Krauser, Metzger/Cohen, Marquis, and Zeitlin families.

Brion Vann was born in Queens, NY. He began his dance, theater and instrumental training, as a four-year-old, at the Harlem School Of the arts (HSA). At the age of eight he won a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet (SAB). As a child he danced in several professional dance companies: Renaissance II (HSA) and Batoto Yetu where he traveled the world including, Angola, China and London as well as meeting Jamal Jackson. He continued his dance training at

Virginia State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health with a minor in Dance and joined and held workshop for the campuses Dance Company SANKOFA under the direction of Benita Brown. Upon graduation he joined the Forces of Nature Dance Company, under the direction of Abdel Salaam Brion has danced on many stages: Jacobs Pillow, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Apollo and shared the stage with: Whitney Houston, Usher, Stomp, Urban Bush Women, Chuck Davis, and countless others. Utilizing everything obtained in his twenty-six years of dance Brion created the Ugly Owl, his newest endeavor, which is a culmination of his life’s journey combining fashion and culture into tangible product. Brion is currently a member of the Jamal Jackson Dance Company (JJDC) and a teaching artist for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

Bridget Cohen - Performer

Noll Marquis - Performer

Giles

Rebecca Greenbaum - Artist

Rebecca Greenbaum was born and bred in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Dance Performance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and Bachelors in Science from Skidmore College. She has previously performed with XAOC Contemporary Ballet, Maverick Dance Experience, Brooklyn Contemporary Ballet Collective, INSPIRITdance/Christal Brown and apprenticed for ZviDance/Zvi Gotheiner. She has also presented work at Dixon Place in NYC, and in the Florence Dance Festival in Italy. She is a certified classical Pilates instructor and trains clients privately in NYC.

Anne Later - Artist

Anne Later grew up in New York City and started dancing at age five. She trains at Downtown Dance Factory and Kanyok Arts Initiative and is a senior at Saint Ann’s School. In 2022, she danced for Dance Lab New York’s inaugural youth company. She also enjoys singing, acting, and painting!

Margaret Thomas

Austen Vega Smith - Performer

Jessica Natalie Smith (she/her) is an actor, director, choreographer, and recent graduate of the Brown University MFA program in Acting and Directing. Jessica is an inaugural recipient of the Drama League's Irene Gandy Stage Directing Assistantship, the inaugural Choreography Fellow at The Hangar Theatre, the 2022 Lillian Chason Directing Fellow at UNC Chapel Hill, a 2020-2021 Teaching Apprentice at Brown University, and a 24 Hour Plays alum. Her directing work includes The Impossible Dream (co-directed with Shirley Serotsky, The Hangar Theatre), The Revolting Teens of Sherwood by Joe Faust and John Maclay (St.Ann’s School, Brooklyn), Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (asst. Nicole A. Watson, Guthrie Theatre), Bulrusher by Eisa Davis (asst. Nicole A. Watson, McCarter Theatre), Dance Nation by Clare Baron (UNC Chapel Hill), soft by Donja Love (asst. dir. Whitney White, MCC), The Murmurations by Alexander Moggridge (Atlantic Theatre Acting School), The Bridge Workshop by Michael Mejias, Doug Silver, and Andrew Frank (Dramatic Question Theatre), seven methods of killing kylie jenner by Jasmine Lee- Jones (Leeds Theatre). Film: To Infinity and Beyonce, Aftermath, Phases (self-produced). Choreography: Elephant and Piggie (Hangar Theatre), The Tempest (dir. Aileen McGroddy). Acting: Behold A Negress by Jacqueline Lawton (Tatyana-Marie Carlo, Everyman Theatre), Alien/Nation by Jen Silverman and Eric Berryman (Michael Arden, Williamstown Theatre Festival), and we will eat your grief (RDA Producing), Hamlet (Gallery Players). Jessica is extremely grateful to Jamal Jackson and the entire company for inviting her to collaborate on this innovative and moving narrative dance piece!

Birgitta Victorson- Originally from Upstate New York, Birgitta studied theater and dance at Northwestern University and was an original member of Billy Siegenfeld’s Jump Rhythm Jazz Company. She received her MFA in Directing from Brown University and her work as a director, choreographer and devisor has been seen at Trinity Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, EST, Juilliard, Two River, The Pearl, The Civilians, Second City, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, The Goodman and Miloco Theater Company (Prague, CZ). Birgitta currently teaches theater and dance at Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn and has previously taught for the Northwestern High School Institute ( Cherub Program). She collaborated with JJDC as the dramaturge for ROB DAY and 846.

We respectfully acknowledge that the work of Triskelion Arts is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of Lenapehoking, the homeland of the Lenape peoples. We pay our respects to their land, water, and ancestors, past, present, and future. This acknowledgment demonstrates a commitment to the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism and to learning to be better stewards of this land.