EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE

EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE (EAD) is a dance company rooted in African American and Latine street and club dances. The company is committed to education, celebrating and bringing awareness to the history, expansiveness and vastness of these dances through workshops and classes, panel discussions, film screenings, open rehearsals, pre-show talks and post-show Q&As. EAD offers workshops for movers of all ages in various vernacular forms including breaking, hip-hop and house, as well as a wide-range of multigenerational offerings and lecture demonstrations. Additional class offerings include workshops focused on freestyling/improvising, the choreographic process and the relationship between movement and text.

EAD Workshops

House Workshop
This class will cover some of the fundamentals of house, including aspects of footwork, floorwork and the importance of a freestyle approach to the form. The cultural context in which this dance was created and where it continues to thrive will discussed and underscored in the movement. Running time: 90 minutes.

Breaking Workshop
This class will cover some of the foundational techniques of breaking(b-boying/b-girling) including top rock, drops to the floor, footwork and basic spins. The cultural and historical content from which breaking emerged will be highlighted and discussed. Through movement and discussion students will gain a more in depth understanding of the global importance of Hip Hop culture. Running time: 90 minutes.

Freestyle/Improvisation Workshop
This class will focus on methods/exercises/concepts to open students up to ideas surrounding freestyle/improvisation. Moving from ideas and values rooted in street and social dance, this class will push students to reach outside their comfort zone to find new modes of exploring movement, rhythm, melody and space and highlight the importance of connecting with others through movement. Running time: 90 minutes. 

Multigenerational Movement Workshop
Presented in a lec dem format, this workshop is created to inform, connect and bring individuals from all generations together through street and social dance. Performing dance sequences from EAD repertory, members from the company demonstrate and lead this movement workshop, emphasizing how meaningful creating relationships through movement can be. The workshop draws from various styles including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue as a means to help participants move out of their comfort zone, find new modes of expression and connect with one another. Running time: 90 minutes. 

*Shake-A-Leg with Archie & Ephrat
Come catch some New York City club vibes with the legendary Archie Burnett and choreographer and b-girl Ephrat Asherie. All ages welcome as we share with you some of our favorite social dances. Get ready to sweat! Available during UNDERSCORED tour. Participants: Multigenerational. Running Time: 60 minutes.

Open Practice Session
This session allows dancers of all levels to interact, exchange and share ideas with company members. A low stress environment where learning can happen at various paces and levels, this practice session reflects the ethos of club culture, where each individual’s uniqueness is celebrated, creating a space to get free and move out of your comfort zone. Music playlists curated by EAD are sure to inspire all to “get busy”! Running time: 90 minutes. 

Lecture Demonstrations
The company offers lecture demonstrations and seminars on the many street and social dances the company embodies, underscoring the cultural context from which these dance forms emerged and the spaces in which these styles continue to thrive and exist. Running time: TBD

EAD Schooltime Matinee
EAD’s schooltime matinee begins with a brief introduction from Ephrat Asherie followed by a 40-minute version of the evening performance, the full company participates in a Q&A session with students. Running time: 50 minutes (includes Q&A session). Grade range: All ages.

*CHECK YOUR BODY AT THE DOOR DOC WATCH PARTY!
A film by directors: Sally Sommer, Charles Atlas and Michael Schwartz, Check Your Body at the Door is about some remarkable underground house dancers in NYC during the golden decade of the 1990s. Released in 2012, it follows master free-stylists into the clubs, their jobs, and their everyday lives. Starring Willi Ninja, Archie Burnett and Brahms “Bravo” LaFortune among many others.

Post-screening discussion with club legends Archie Burnett and Brahms LaFortune (featured in the documentary) available. Can be presented days before the live presentation of UNDERSCORED.

ARTIST LECTURES WITH EPHRAT ASHERIE
*NYC UNDERSCORED Dance Roots: The Loft and The Paradise Garage
Women in Hip Hop: B-girls, Tastemakers, Organizers and Pioneers.
The Beginnings: The Roots of B-boying/B-girling
Choreographic Process: Social Dance, Concert Dance and Inherent Paradoxes.
Additional lecture subject matters can be added/discussed as necessary.

*PRE-SHOW TALKS WITH LOCAL SOCIAL DANCE COMMUNITY
Find out more about your local city’s street and club dance scene from some of your community’s brightest dance artists. Working closely with EAD and local community contacts to invite each evening’s dancers/speakers, these pre-show talks feature the community of dancers whose work has been integral in shaping the local social dance scene.  Each dancer shares their dance origin story as part of the local dance community, excavating the way the community has grown, changed and shifted over time in the city.  This is a great opportunity to share  dance-life stories that audiences may not realize are an essential part of their local communities art world. These personal dance histories are full of stories that are at once unique to each individual, but simultaneously connect dancers across the country through a shared passion for dance and music, a continuously life-affirming force in their artistic journeys. This, at its essence, is what UNDERSCORED is about.

*Denotes activities specific to UNDERSCORED engagements.

Post-performance discussions available upon request. No pre-show discussions/talks with performers possible.