Creative Alliance is thrilled to announce the launch of its year-long Performing Artist Residency Program. The first artist to be honored is the acclaimed choreographer and performing artist, Brinae Ali. The new residency, leading into the organization’s 30th Anniversary, marks a significant expansion in the organization’s support for performing artists. The program is designed to provide performers with the time, space, and resources needed to advance their work and engage with audiences and community in transformative ways.
THE RESIDENCY BEGINS:
Program Development & Community Engagement: August 12 – 19, 2024
During the month of August, Brinae Ali takes over the new Creative Alliance Creativity Center dance studio and intimate theater to work with students, musicians, and dancers to develop new work for the Baby Laurence Legacy Project.
Community engagement workshops and discussions include local history, jazz and music theory, critical thinking, and dance training. Activities highlight the growth of tap dance alongside jazz music and the interplay between the two disciplines, sparking meaningful interactions that lead to positive change.
THE PERFORMANCES:
Baby Laurence Legacy Project Performances: February 2025
Performance Dates: February 21 & 22, 2025 | 2 Shows
Tickets On Sale: Monday, August 19, 2024
Creative Alliance’s Inaugural Resident Performing Artist Brinae Ali is redefining tap with innovative percussion techniques and cutting-edge technology to deliver new compositions that echo the defiance and Black consciousness of jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and Charlie Parker.
Brinae Ali and the Baltimore Jazz Collective, featuring guest artist Wendel Patrick, offer you a rare seat in the room to witness the bebop spirit and legacy of Baby Laurence.
A highlight of Brinae Ali’s residency is the premiere of her multidisciplinary work, the Baby Laurence Legacy Project, a tribute to the legacy of Baltimore tap dance legend Donald “Baby Laurence” Jackson. This project, which has been in development since 2022, debuts its most recent performance component over two nights on February 21 and 22, 2025, during Black History Month. The performances celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Baltimore and the profound influence of Baby Laurence on the art of tap dance and jazz music.
The Baby Laurence Legacy Project is an integrated work of jazz tap dance and jazz music that investigates and celebrates Baby Laurence’s artistic and social influences on both genres. To capture and demystify the story of this iconic tap dancer from Baltimore, this project is more than just performance – it includes referential and new choreography and compositions, multimedia, and archival research tracing Baby Laurence’s footsteps in Baltimore, Harlem, and Washington, D.C. As band leader, lead vocalist, and tap dancer, Brinae Ali leads this creative venture in collaboration with a six-piece jazz ensemble, tap and contemporary dancers, actors, and a live DJ.
The night unfolds using dance, music, staged readings, archival film, and documents that bring Baby Laurence’s life into focus. Brinae Ali narrates his story using spoken word, contemporary tap choreography, live music, dance improvisation, and soundscaping integrating responsive electronic tap floors and a loop machine to create unique moments of artistry. Video mapping projections, lighting, and contributions from numerous artists push the boundaries of traditional tap performance.
The work includes new compositions by Brinae Ali in collaboration with members of the Baltimore Jazz Collective and guest artist Wendel Patrick. Audiences will experience how Baby Laurence embodied the bebop aesthetic, channeling defiance of the white gaze and a self-referencing Black consciousness akin to the music of Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and Charlie Parker.
